#popmic

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 2: Bonding

Summary:

tw: PTSD, trauma, kidnapping, burns, abuse, grounding, dissociation, death/dying, criminal activity Relationships evolve as 1-A starts training for the Provisional Licensing Exam

Notes:

'text' JSL Text thoughts

Akira nodded to Katsuki as they padded into the kitchen to make tea. He quietly handed them his Gang Orca mug at their offer to refill. ' I get nightmares pretty often, ' Akira opened as the chamomile tea steeped. ' Counsellor says it's common for heroes, especially ones with PTSD. '

Katsuki scoffed, still curled up on an armchair. "Heroes don't get nightmares."

Akira raised an eyebrow. 'Eraser does. Heroes are still people, and our brains sometimes need more time to process trauma than we have while we're awake. At least that's what I've heard.'

Katsuki went quiet as they sat down on the couch next to his armchair. The quiet hum of the lights and screeching cicadas outside filled the silence as Katsuki stared into his tea and Akira ran through what they could work on that day. Physical training was out of the question since they were still regaining mass from their kidnapping, so clone work while eating would make the most sense.

The elevator's whir added to the night sounds, so Akira got up to make another mug of tea. Moments later, Katsuki startled up from his tea as the elevator doors dinged open to reveal a tired Fumikage. Akira grabbed a hibiscus rose blend as he entered the common area. Katsuki swiftly stood and started to walk to the elevator when Akira caught his eye.

' We've all got issues. You're welcome to stay if you want. ' At his hesitance, they added, ' We don't have to talk. '

"A film sometimes alleviates the terrors of night," Fumikage offered as Dark Shadow settled between them and started their soothing purr.

A couple hours into a rainforest bird documentary – Katsuki having been outvoted for birds over heroes – the dorm's door opened, and Akira jolted up from dozing on the couch. Capture scarf unraveling from its grounding pressure on their torso, Akira crouched and silently padded towards the genkan as Fumikage let out a half-asleep grumble at their absence. Moments later, Aizawa padded into view, and Akira relaxed back into a neutral stance.

Aizawa looked between them and the two in the living room and sighed. ' Couldn't sleep? '

Akira nodded and signed ' nightmares ' before gesturing to the kettle on the stove. ' Want some tea? '

' I've got coffee. Try to sleep, we're working on ultimate moves tomorrow. ' Aizawa headed up as Akira settled back on the couch after readjusting Katsuki's blanket on the armchair. They barely stirred as Aizawa left half an hour later, sleepily lifting their head to wave at him before settling back down.

Akira woke up a few minutes before Katsuki around five and started making tamago gohan. ' Breakfast now or later? ' they asked, turning just enough for him to see.

"I'll make it later," Katsuki grumbled and grabbed an energy drink from the pantry. "Run with Kiri first."

Not long after the pair left in matching green workout gear, Midoriya sped through the kitchen to grab the same drink and nearly fell as Akira waved from the island with their food. They raised an eyebrow, 'Situational awareness, Broccoli. Be glad Sensei isn't here.'

"Hey, did I do something to you?" Midoriya blurted out while wringing his hands.

' Not recently, but we do need to talk at some point, ' Akira kept their expression carefully neutral. ' Go on your run. I'll approach you when I'm ready to talk about it. '

He hesitated a moment, conflicted, before speeding out the door. The door slam jolted Fumikage awake to Akira's eye roll. ' Do you want breakfast? Or do you also have a ridiculously early run? ' they teased. Fumikage gave them a half-hearted glare before trudging upstairs.

Over the next few hours, Akira got ready for the day, and the class filtered into the common area. Before leaving, Akira filled a couple tumblers with their smoothie and grabbed a few mango jelly pouches. As Hitoshi was the last one downstairs, Akira handed off a purple cat travel mug full of Aizawa's blend. Like Hitoshi sometimes did for them, Akira guided him to class with occasional nudges and pulls to Kaminari's amusement from their snickering.

In class, Aizawa officially announced the weeks' goal of creating ultimate moves for the provisional license exam. In the Training Dining Land, Akira sat down near their Ectoplasm clone and signed, ' I want to focus on fine motor control for better combat and reconnaissance applications. '

"Do you want advice on control?" the clone gently asked, keeping a comfortable distance.

Akira shook their head. ' Our methods of control are very different. I'd like to start solo, and I'll signal if I want to move onto sparring before lunch. I'll dismiss the clone and ask if there's something I need another perspective on. '

Warping a few inches to the side, Akira focused primarily on evasion tactics, running through forms and methods of falling without dispelling the clone for the first few hours. There were enough holes in their clone's defense to be noticeable, and there was still a delay when Akira wasn't inside their mind shadow.

Not long into practice, All Might walked up and initially moved towards their clone, so Akira dispelled it. ' Do you need something? ' they signed.

"Ah, I'm just making observations and giving tips where I can," All Might said awkwardly. "You've mentioned your clones have a heartbeat, yes?"

Akira nodded, keeping their face carefully impassive against the desire to punch the man. ' Yes, why? '

"Have you tried seeing what else they mimic? Fine motor control is important for reconnaissance, but since your clones also copy what you're wearing, they might be able to use your support items."

' Yes, but- ' before Akira could explain, he set off towards the next student. They sighed and warped to continue working. Their capture weapon was too complex to use reliably at this point unless they directed their clones to try and interface with the nanites. Shifting their control up, Akira lightly tugged at the brain area of their clone with the clear image of their capture weapon rising. It shakily rose on their clone, hovering for a few seconds until Akira shifted their control back to the thread trailing from the shadow. Almost immediately, the scarf wrapped around the clone and constricted as if a stranger had tried to interface with it.

When they broke for lunch, Akira grinned at Hitoshi's mixed success mimicking their classmates' mannerisms and speech patterns. He almost had Fumikage's down, but they were struggling with more animated voices like Kaminari.

Hitoshi brightened as he turned to Akira, lowering their mask. "I could create a voice for you if you want," he grinned. "I bet you could learn how to talk in time since they're artificial vocal cords."

Akira froze, rice ball halfway to their mouth. Shoto especially looked curious, but Katsuki stiffened from where his group sat nearby. ' May I? ' they gestured for the mask. Akira hummed, adjusting the knobs and dials several times before they said, "Testing." Akira startled as a slightly higher version of their old voice came through louder than they intended. Adjusting it a couple more times, they tried again, "Does this... yes, this is close to how my voice sounded." It was more difficult than they remembered to vary the pitch without using the dials, but it was a close approximation.

" Your voice?" Shoto asked, eyes bright. Aizawa locked eyes with them and straightened. He drifted closer but stopped back as Akira slightly shook their head.

' When I still had vocal cords, ' Akira signed and held out the mask for Hitoshi. He froze reaching towards it, and Mad Banquet stared at them for a long moment. Hitoshi seemed to shake out of their stupor first and gingerly took the mask back.

"What happened?" Shoto asked. He shrunk back slightly, confusion twisting his expression as the group's focus snapped to him.

' Not important. It's been four years, and I have other means of communication at this point, ' Akira signed before going back to their food. Looking around the group, they continued, ' Really, it's not great that it happened, but I'm out of that situation and am quite capable without my voice. '

"You don't want it back?" Hitoshi asked, anger burning in his eyes although Akira was fairly certain it wasn't directed at them. "Hatsume could make one of these for you."

Akira shrugged, ' I have bigger things to focus on right now, and at this point, I don't need or particularly want it. You're welcome to use my voice as a neutral one if you want, but some may recognize it. '

"Any particular group I should avoid using it around?" Hitoshi asked too casually for the calculating look in their eyes.

Akira sighed exasperatedly, ' Not the time, Blank. '

That night, as everyone filed back into the dorms, Akira slipped into the kitchen with Katsuki. ' You cooking for everyone or just you? '

"Everyone, Reaper," he grumbled. "You know how to make katsudon?"

Akira nodded and started pulling out onions and scallions. After a few chops, they tapped his shoulder to show their usual sizes with Dabi. ' This good? ' They eyed the spices Katsuki set out with a raised eyebrow. ' Might want to leave out the death spices. Not everyone has fire quirk levels of spice tolerance. Unless you make a batch just for you and Peppermint, that is. '

"Those are fine, and what do you mean?" he growled. "Deku loves my cooking."

Akira mock put up their hands in surrender. ' Maybe he's just used to it? Most people stick with salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. I got used to spicy food living with a fire-quirked roommate, but he kept it toned down a bit. '

"Fine, you do the spices, but the extras better not call it bland."

"Woah, Kat's letting someone else lead in the kitchen?" Kirishima grinned as he settled at the island, resting his elbows on the counter. "Anything I can help with?"

Akira blinked, remembering that morning. ' Are you two dating? ' they signed before carefully sliding him a knife and cutting board with the rest of the scallions. They pulled out some milder and earthy spices to balance out the tolerable end of Katsuki's selection.

"I can do it with my quirk," Kirishima protested and blushed, "and yeah, made it official after he got cleared from the hospital."

Akira immediately snatched the chopping board back, scowling at him. ' That's unsanitary! You're worse than Wildfire. ' At his confused look, they clarified, ' Roommate. Either take the knife or just sit there lookin pretty. '

Kirishima preened as Katsuki shot them a dirty look. He sheepishly reached across the island again, taking the knife before Akira would let go of the cutting board.

"Weren't they the bastard who kept burning you?" Katsuki asked as the smell of burnt caramel wafted through the air. Akira wrinkled their nose but was mostly used to the acrid scent by now.

' Yeah, but that was mostly my fault. Can sneak past Eraser and paranoid for a reason don't mix well ,' Akira signed. ' We figured it out, though. He kept trying to use his fire to cook, and he doesn't have good control to begin with. '

"Why do you call him that when he's off duty?" Kirishima paused to compare his slices and went back over his small pile with finer strokes.

Akira cocked their head for a moment before realization struck. ' Oh, I guess because I've known him as Eraser for longer? ' they mused. ' Calling him Sleepy Cat feels weird at this point. '

"So what, did the fucker keep an eye on you for the-"

Eyes wide, Akira warped onto the counter and slapped a hand over Katsuki's mouth. Kirishima yelped as a knife cut dispeled the other clone and Katsuki froze, small explosions briefly lighting up his palms. His eyes narrowed as they shook their head emphatically.

After a moment, Akira released Katsuki and slid off, carefully avoiding the cabinet handles on their way down. ' No, and please don't talk about them. Wildfire offered me a place to stay after my building was destroyed by Endeavor. '

"What's his name?" Kirishima asked awkwardly after a moment. Akira and Katsuki snapped to look at him before shifting back to their stations.

Akira hesitated, glancing towards a quietly approaching Shoto, ' I don't think- '

"Toya," Shoto said as he got closer. "They're arresting father in a few days now that they have his testimony, so there's no harm in Bakugo and Kirishima knowing now."

Katsuki scowled, brow twisting in confusion. "Wasn't Toya your oldest brother? There was a big scandal in the hero forums when he died."

Shoto's neutral expression cracked as he frowned bitterly. He started to speak, but Akira put a hand on his arm. ' I've got this. Wildfire ran away. He nearly died that night and has been biding his time to take down Endeavor. A lot will come out in the trial, and I will probably be unavailable this weekend. '

Katsuki scoffed, "If they're taking down Endeavor, why aren't they going after your family?"

Akira gave him a pointed look and threw up their hands at the defiance in his eyes. ' Fine, you want to know so bad? Meet me down here at eleven. I'll let Eraser know we're talking. ' As the other two perked up, they huffed, ' And no, you two can't come. Murder God only gets this talk because he overheard something while we were kidnapped. '

Dinner was tense, especially with the uncertain looks Midoriya and Aoyama kept giving Akira. Mina tried to keep the others engaged with their ultimate moves, but conversations kept drifting off. After showing Aizawa's permission to Vlad, Akira waited for Katsuki to make his way down. Around 22:30, they texted Fumikage to join them. He might as well get the full picture since he was part of the hospital fiasco .

' Raven has more context because of our lunch conversations and because he was with me at the hospital, ' Akira explained as they set out.

"Why are we leaving the dorms?" Katsuki asked with a hint of uncertainty. "And where are we going?"

' The dorms are too big for me to properly sweep, Ear Jerk and Tentacle Boy have Thinker quirks, and the roof has the risk of quirks that use or are similar in function to satellites, ' Akira said simply. At Katsuki's laugh, they just stared at him straight-faced.

Expression falling, he looked between them and Fumikage. "You're serious?"

Once they were well into the forested area of campus, Akira leaned against a tree and gestured for the other two to stop. ' So we're on the same page, Murder God, did the League say anything after I left? '

"Marbles-"

' Mr. Compress ,' Akira reminded him.

"Mr. Compress was weirdly obsessed with you," Katsuki said. "He kept talking about wasted potential and something called forced quirk manifestation. They were just trying to recruit me after that."

' First things first. Yes, I was born into the Inoue family... ' Akira tiredly explained forced quirk manifestation, their abuse, and their current standing with the family. ' I have plans for them, but it will take years, and I will likely not be around to see them succeed. '

Fumikage startled at that, and Dark Shadow unfurled from the comforting hug he'd been giving Akira to face them. "We will protect you, little shadow! You will see your success," they crowed.

Akira smiled bittersweetly, touched at their enthusiasm as Katsuki let off a few small pops. ' I'm afraid you won't have much of a choice, but I appreciate it. ' They lightly rapped their head against the tree trunk they leaned against. ' The odds of my survival plummeted the moment my family found out I'm alive this early, and they were already pretty low to begin with. I didn't want to involve children – other children, at least, but it happened anyway. '

"We're not children," Katsuki ground out.

' We are, though, ' Akira tiredly insisted. ' We should be, anyways. I had to grow up fast, and our class has had to as well in the past few months. My family is a bigger stage than any of us should be even thinking about right now, but here we are. '

"Fat Gum was aware of your predicament before he arrived," Fumikage said bluntly.

' He figured it out during my internship. Eraser and Principal are involved, and more may be added to the list in the near future. They're aware of Raven and Dark Shadow knowing and of Murder God hearing the name. And of our meeting tonight, obviously. I can't give you more, but I don't want either of you involved while you're students. '

"You're a student," Katsuki grumbled as he kicked a rock.

Akira smirked, ' Yeah, and I was carrying this alone until Fat Gum. '

"No, you weren't." Akira startled, looking to Fumikage. He crossed his arms with a pointed look, "You forget I've learned you like a book. What would you withhold when so much has been revealed?"

Akira sighed, ' Right... There's a group I'm in that has helped me survive this long. Once we graduate or if there are extenuating circumstances, I'll introduce Raven and Dark Shadow, but not before then. Murder God, you'll have no reason to know them as a limelight. '

Katsuki bristled, "Are you saying you're a criminal?"

Akira shrugged, ' I'll be labeled one soon after my plan starts, and Eraser is aware of the situation. ' They leaned against the tree, arms lightly crossed as the pair mulled over the information. Dark Shadow gave a gentle squeeze as Akira started to drift, so they gave the shadow bird a few pets to help ground both. After a minute, they pushed off the tree. ' If you don't have any more questions, we might as well head back. '

"Only the same as I did in the hospital."

Akira winced and signed to Katsuki, ' Raven and I need to talk privately for a moment. You can head back now. '

He scowled, drawing up. "Eh? I thought you were bringing me in."

Akira waved him off, letting some of their annoyance seep through. ' This is different. It's not that I don't trust you, rather that it's a sensitive matter I barely know how to address with Raven. '

Katsuki looked ready to put up more of a fight but with a deep breath, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked back towards the dorm. Once Akira heard his footsteps fade into the distance, they sagged against the tree and lowered themself to the ground. Dark Shadow let out a startled squawk and stayed around them as a steadying force.

"Akira?" Fumikage asked softly, treading closer to sit in front of them.

Akira sighed and tucked their knees to their chest as they focused on Dark Shadow's purr to settle their racing heart. ' I'll be fine, just... give me a moment. ' They focused on deep breaths, cicadas screeching, and the soft yet prickly grass underfoot, petting Dark shadow as their family's retaliation gradually felt a little farther away. After a few minutes, they uncurled into a cross-legged position and focused on Fumikage.

"You said he offered something?" he asked gently.

Akira nodded and signed, ' All for One collects quirks. He knows how they work and interact with each other, and he has the power, funds, and resources to take down my family. '

Fumikage slowly nodded, expression clearly fighting to stay neutral as Dark Shadow shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure?"

Akira tiredly explained his file room, the access they had, and finally the offer. ' Raven, I... his path hurts the fewest people. Has a near-guaranteed chance of success. Doesn't put any other innocents in danger. It- it makes sense, but... '

"But he's tried to maim or kill us on multiple occasions," Fumikage said softly as hurt seeped into his voice. "He wants to destroy the world."

' No, ' Akira signed to his surprise, ' he wants to rule it. ' After a shaky breath, they continued, ' The Commission is not working, and too many people are invested in the status quo for it to be reformed. It's time we make this world our own. It's time someone put them in their place. '

"Have you told Aizawa?"

Akira slumped forward and shook their head. ' I'm pretty sure it's the right choice, but I... I don't want to lose them. I wasn't going to risk losing Mad Banquet either, but you were there. ' As Dark Shadow purred a little louder, Akira smiled slightly at the idea of having people to worry about rejection from.

Fumikage gently took their hands. Akira blinked out of their thoughts, knowing how rare physical touch was for him. "It will take far more than a difference in code to lose us," he said firmly. "In this space right here that we have made for each other, you can say anything and I will not abandon you. The worst things you have or will do don't matter. Watch me hold them up to the light and not even flinch. We are not the Banquet of Light for a reason, and we pledge ourselves to your cause so that you will not bear this alone and have voices of reason in times of turmoil. Speak with Aizawa or one of your trusted adults, and we can continue this with the rest of Mad Banquet."

Akira nodded reluctantly with a shaky smile and forced themself to get up. ' They're probably wondering why we're not back with Murder God. '

Notes:

gosh I had Luke's part of "Last Day of Summer" from Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical stuck in my head for this chapter. Like yes, it's an inspiration for Akira, but they haven't crossed the line to Luke's stance yet.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[ao3feed-hitoshi-shinsou]

Bottle It Up & Shut Down

Bottle It Up & Shut Down by Raverin2

Hitoshi is having an awful day, but Eijirou wants to help. If only Hitoshi will let him.

Words: 5252, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of Twitter Threads

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kaminari Denki, Uraraka Ochako, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Relationships: Kirishima Eijirou/Shinsou Hitoshi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Angst to Fluff, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and overwhelmed, overstimulated mentions, and cursing. Dadzawa/PopMic, exhausted/drained Hitoshi having a bad day will be the angst., Confessions, Getting Together, Midoriya Izuku is a Little Shit, Kaminari Denki is a Little Shit, They are good friends though!, Bakugou Katsuki is Whipped, for izuku, Mentioned Class 1-A & Class 1-B, Bakusquad Shenanigans, Dekusquad Shenanigans, Caring squads!, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead | Dadzawa, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Married Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Swearing, scheming bakudeku, exhausted Hitoshi, Caring Kirishima Eijirou

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46506784

[ao3feed-bakusquad]

Bottle It Up & Shut Down

Bottle It Up & Shut Down by Raverin2

Hitoshi is having an awful day, but Eijirou wants to help. If only Hitoshi will let him.

Words: 5252, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of Twitter Threads

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kaminari Denki, Uraraka Ochako, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Relationships: Kirishima Eijirou/Shinsou Hitoshi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Angst to Fluff, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and overwhelmed, overstimulated mentions, and cursing. Dadzawa/PopMic, exhausted/drained Hitoshi having a bad day will be the angst., Confessions, Getting Together, Midoriya Izuku is a Little Shit, Kaminari Denki is a Little Shit, They are good friends though!, Bakugou Katsuki is Whipped, for izuku, Mentioned Class 1-A & Class 1-B, Bakusquad Shenanigans, Dekusquad Shenanigans, Caring squads!, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead | Dadzawa, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Married Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Swearing, scheming bakudeku, exhausted Hitoshi, Caring Kirishima Eijirou

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46506784

[ao3feed-bnha-rarepair]

Bottle It Up & Shut Down

Bottle It Up & Shut Down by Raverin2

Hitoshi is having an awful day, but Eijirou wants to help. If only Hitoshi will let him.

Words: 5252, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of Twitter Threads

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kaminari Denki, Uraraka Ochako, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Relationships: Kirishima Eijirou/Shinsou Hitoshi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Angst to Fluff, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and overwhelmed, overstimulated mentions, and cursing. Dadzawa/PopMic, exhausted/drained Hitoshi having a bad day will be the angst., Confessions, Getting Together, Midoriya Izuku is a Little Shit, Kaminari Denki is a Little Shit, They are good friends though!, Bakugou Katsuki is Whipped, for izuku, Mentioned Class 1-A & Class 1-B, Bakusquad Shenanigans, Dekusquad Shenanigans, Caring squads!, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead | Dadzawa, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Married Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Swearing, scheming bakudeku, exhausted Hitoshi, Caring Kirishima Eijirou

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46506784

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 26: Finals

Summary:

tw: torture, experimentation, near death, severe injuries, ptsd, trauma Last chapter! Updates in end notes Finished first draft on December 18, 2022 'text' JSL Text thoughts

' You good being the distraction? ' Mortis asked as they and Aoyama geared up for their practical.

Twinkling grinned brightly at them as he flipped through the mock report. "Oui, mon ami, he'll be too dazzled by my beautiful voice to notice you."

Mortis snorted and continued looking over the blueprints and manual for the security system. Instead of directly fighting the teachers this time, they had options. Their only parameters were to rescue the hostage – in their case, Ectoplasm – and work within the confines of the law as if they had their full hero license.

Mortis warped as Aoyama opened the line of communication and kept their clone close to him while they approached the jewelry shop. Once they got close enough to properly see through the slats, they double-checked for people in the way and warped just inside. The display cases were shattered, with glass spread everywhere on the floor. As Aoyama talked through the standard hostage checks with Yamada, Mortis carefully picked their way through the glass. They couldn't nudge the shards too much or the path would alert the villain, but stepping on the glass would alert him even faster.

Mortis found themself smiling slightly at Yamada's overacting as they made their way to the employee entrance. Once his back was turned, they slowly and carefully opened the door just enough to squeeze through. Inside, there were a couple tables, a coffee pot, and the backdoor. It was alarmed, so Mortis transmitted that over coms as they worked on disabling it. After a few minutes, the exit was secured, and Mortis padded back to the storefront. Yamada was growing agitated, waving his gun about as he ranted about how society failed villains and the only way to fix it was anarchy.

Overdoing it a little, but go for gold, Mortis mused as they traced "hero" on Ectoplasm's hand. He initially stiffened but relaxed marginally as they finished the word. Mortis waited for Yamada to visually check in again before they tapped their com twice. Twinkling upped the distraction slightly, catering more towards Yamada as Mortis slowly maneuvered Ectoplasm towards the back while loosening the rope on his wrists. They were almost clear when Mortis stepped on a piece of glass with a crunch . In the blink of an eye, Yamada whirled around, and they propelled Ectoplasm into the back with their capture weapon. They started warping a clone barrier around the entrance as they slammed the door, holding their hands over Ectoplasm's ears as their shoulders hiked over their own.

The pair only took a few steps before the clones dispelled and a low rumble shook them. Nonlethal force aimed at disorienting and locking muscles . Mortis pushed through the familiar stabs of pain in their muscles as they got Ectoplasm out of the building and turned back towards the threat. An oof sounded from behind the door, and Mortis warped to the other side to see Twinkling already blasting Yamada. They quickly snapped the quirk-suppressant cuffs on his wrists in the brief moment he was recovering from the beam.

Mortis stretched a bit, testing their range of movement to confirm no lasting damage before wrapping up the "arrest" and mock paperwork.

' Are you alright, Reaper? ' Yamada checked in once the cuffs were off.

' I'll have pins and needles for another hour or so, but I'm fine, ' Akira reassured him as a shudder ran up their spine. They hated how much they still had to restrain themself from flinching back at his question. ' Clones took the brunt of it. '

He smiled softly, sad understanding but not pity shining in his eyes. ' Let me or Sleepy Cat know if you need anything. '

Back at the dorms, Akira flopped onto the couch with Fumikage and Koji while Aoyama made tea. ' How'd you fare? Pretty sure I failed the History final, but the practical went mostly well. '

"Maybe it's not that bad," Koji hesitantly smiled. "Our practical was a disaster, but we weren't expecting Aizawa-sensei to handicap himself that much."

"It is intriguing to see our instructor's beginnings," Fumikage added. He cocked his head in confusion as he peered at Akira. "Why do you think you failed, though? We started the study sessions earlier, and you weren't juggling a job."

Koji looked confused as Akira ducked their head. ' I've had a lot going on and basically have a job with what we talked about. I could barely focus on studying outside our sessions. '

"Maybe they'll let you do tutoring instead of retaking History if it's that bad?" Koji offered with a small smile. "Especially since Aizawa-sensei knows what's been going on."

Even as Akira nodded, Fumikage narrowed his eyes. Akira immediately moved on to winter break, mentioning they were taking a break from their work study with how stressful everything had been lately. Aoyama and Fumikage would be continuing theirs, although Koji would be staying home over the break. He could still work on Anivoice at his family's rescue.

After some time, as the others trickled in from their practicals, they switched on the news. Akira did a double take at Hood rampaging through Fukuoka, fighting Hawks and one of the up-and-coming Wrens. At Fumikage's silent question, they slightly shook their head and watched transfixed as the Wren struggled. Hawks primarily ran support and evacuation, but slight discrepancies slowly added up as the less experienced hero slowed down and could no longer keep up with the nomu's powerful regeneration and muscle augmentation.

Why did Dabi release it? Hood's barely battle-ready, Akira wondered. Glancing at their phone, there were no new messages indicating a change of plans. The timing would seem to target that Wren, but unless Hijack switched internships... Akira quickly searched for articles on the Wrens, finding her to be in Fukuoka with her mentor. Checking the picture, Akira quietly wiped the search history and watched for any signs of her.

As Hood shot off its smaller duplicates, it landed a grievous blow on the Wren, and Akira held back a smile at her hitting the ground. The camera quickly panned away to the other heroes attempting to contain the nomu, but from the way she'd crumpled, survival was highly unlikely. Yaoyorozu gasped and the others turned to Akira. They glanced between their classmates in mild confusion for a moment before simply signing, ' I'm fine. '

The nomu critically injured a couple other heroes before it could be contained, but most of the civilians at least seemed to stay relatively safe. Akira shot off a text to Aizawa that they'd be in and out for a bit and another to Dabi asking for five minutes before the warp.

Akira quickly grabbed several snack pouches from their room and a change of clothes just in case. Once they got confirmation from Aizawa, they double-checked their bag and made sure their doors were locked and blinds closed. Shortly thereafter, the goo they were slowly getting used to crawled out of their throat and warped them to the Doctor's side.

Dabi inclined his head from next to Hijack and Magne. "Smooth extraction, left the decoy where we found her."

' What happened? ' Mortis asked. ' I thought we were waiting until next week, and why was a nomu involved? '

"Hawks wants in," Dabi drawled. Mortis stared in disbelief and motioned him to continue after a moment. "Unless Eraser failed to inform us, he's probably a commission spy."

Mortis nodded as the pieces fell into place. Turning to the Doctor, they said, ' Let's get started then. '

Over the next week and a half, Mortis warped between the base and Aizawa almost every day as they ran through the possible ways to end the brainwashing. Hijack remained unconscious for most of it under a sedation quirk, but the procedures got increasingly more invasive and painful as time went on. Hitoshi stopped asking where they were, barely acknowledging them outside of the few meals they ate with the family. Eri took up most of their free time, reading to her and playing with her when they could. Mortis couldn't risk leaving Hijack alone with the Doctor for too long, worried about what experiments and quirks he could run on her.

Just when Mortis started to give up the measly hope that they'd find the right combination, Hijack woke up screaming. Mortis flinched back but quickly pulled a blanket out of their bag and draped it around her. The teen pulled it tight, eyes frantically darting back and forth as her breath heaved.

"They're going to kill me," she eventually whispered.

Notes:

Will probably edit this once it actually goes up, but hi everyone! So fingers-crossed I'll have the sensitivity reading back by now. If not, I should be getting it back soon. I always love reading peoples' thoughts and theories, no matter how far-fetched you think they are. Some stats for funsies of Libertias aut Mortis as of Nov 6, 2023: POV count: 3 Current word count: 47,659 Length of planning document: 19 pages Chapter with the most trigger warnings: Hero Con Death count: ~135? I'm not really keeping count Stats of LaM as of December 30, 2023: POV count: 4 Current word count: 112,844 Length of planning document: 19 pages Longest Chapter: Brute/Striker Raid at 5,511 words Death count: thousands

Previous Chapter

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 10: Quirks and Quirks

Summary:

tw: panic attack, emotional abuse/manipulation, blood, fight, assault, audism Akira finally confronts Midoriya, and the canon starts to diverge 'text' JSL Text thoughts

Akira grinned as Aizawa confirmed they were considering making work studies available for first years. Even if he was against the idea. 1-A had run into enough villains and dangerous situations for their first two years combined. It'll be good to work with Amajiki and Taishiro again, though. Excitement bubbled up in the room to a hushed murmur, mindful as they'd learned to be of Aizawa's long night patrols.

When Yamada pranced into the room, Akira also found themself looking forward to having classes with him in the morning this term. Since they were already fluent in English, they requested Anii to interpret Yamada's teaching to help them learn ASL through immersion in addition to the old textbook Yamada gave them.

Yamada handed out the syllabus for Yaoyorozu and Ida to distribute as he verbally went over it. Akira scanned through what was mostly the same structure as their first term. Halfway through, their heart picked up at the essay assignment. Subtly glancing about, only Midoriya and Katsuki seemed interested in the document at all.

When no one raised their hand for questions, Akira cautiously raised theirs. He's safe. We're safe. Focus on the question not them staring. Dark Shadow settled on their lap with a soft purr, letting their heart slow a bit as they committed to the action.

Surprise flitted across Yamada's face before he grinned and enthusiastically asked, "Yes, Mori?"

' Are there any constraints on the subject of the essay? And is there an upper page limit? ' Akira signed in JSL.

"Keep it school appropriate, yeah?" Yamada beamed, bouncing slightly in excitement. "And no, just make sure it's at least two pages. Also, if any of you get worried about taking on too much, I'd be happy to go over your topic and help narrow it down." He added with a twinkle in his eye, "For the record, the fall of Rome is usually a bit much."

That night, Akira approached Midoriya after dinner. ' It's time to talk. Where would you be most comfortable? '

"Uh," Midoriya stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Is the roof okay? It's almost curfew."

Akira shrugged indifferently, glad he at lesat understood the conversation was private. ' Sure, I'll let sensei know so he doesn't worry. ' At his confusion, they added, ' He gets notified when the roof is accessed for safety reasons. '

"O-oh, right," Midoriya flushed with embarrassment as they rode the elevator up. He shifted from foot to foot, wringing his hands while his gaze kept darting between them and the doors. Occasional tiny flashes of green sparked across his skin but immediately faded.

When they finally reached the top, Akira double-checked that Aizawa had seen the message before waving at the security camera and opening the door. They let out a slow breath as they ran through what they wanted to say again. ' First off, I should recognize that I did assume you went through forced quirk manifestation. '

Midoriya frantically shook his head, opening his mouth but snapped it shut at a glance. 'It lined up with what I could see, but that was technically an assumption on my part. Up until now, you haven't directly lied to me, so I ask that you don't try to now. '

Midoriya opened and closed his mouth a few times before descending into a mutter storm. Akira could only catch a few words here and there about what they might know.

When he started tapering off after a few minutes, Akira gave a small wave to catch his attention. ' All for One told me about the history of One for All and how All Might passed it to you. '

"I... he... what?" Midoriya stammered as the color drained from his face.

' I was angry before because I thought you understood, ' Akira explained. ' I thought you knew what the torture was like and how the feeling of otherness only intensified when you finally triggered a quirk. Our bodies aren't built to house quirks, so the drawbacks tend to be more severe. '

"Have you told anyone else?" Midoriya asked, eyes frantically searching the darkness.

' Not really, Sparkles already figured you were Quirkless growing up, but he was, too. I needed an example that wasn't me. About One for All? No, it's not my secret to share. ' Akira hesitated, not sure if it was their place. ' You should really tell sensei, though. You need someone on your side, and All Might is the one who placed such a terrible burden on a fourteen-year-old. '

"But I wasn't even supposed to tell Kacchan, and now you know, and oh kami," Midoriya started hyperventilating as tears welled up. "He's going to kill me. What if he demands it back? What if he..."

Akira gently pulled Midoriya into a hug as he broke down, putting one of his hands on their sternum so he could try to match their breathing. They lowered the overwhelmed kid to the rough floor as he tried to calm down. Helplessness washed over them, unable to talk through sensory grounding as he broke down. Forcing themself to focus on what they could do, Akira gently pulled his other hand away from tugging at his hair and rubbed small circles on it. Shudders wracked his frame as his eyes glazed over.

' You with me, Broccoli? ' Akira asked after a while when Midoriya's breathing started to even out and his eyes refocused some. They slowly let go as Midoriya focused on his hands and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. ' You don't have to tell sensei, but he genuinely wants to help. ' They huffed and ducked their head slightly, ' He's actually worried about you. '

Midoriya's eyes went wide and started to glisten again. "He shouldn't be, I'm fine!" He gave one of his trademark sunshine smiles, but Akira just gave him a flat look and looked pointedly at where they were sitting. Midoriya wilted and fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt. "All Might said not to tell anyone. It'll put them in danger."

Akira snorted, ' Trust me, any danger that would be added from that knowledge is a drop in a lake compared to what he faces on a daily basis. Not to mention the danger from multiple long-term operations. ' Their expression softened as Midoriya frown deepened, expression still worried. ' You'd be surprised how much he can help. He'd want to know. '

Midoriya nodded slowly but still hesitated, "But All Might..."

Fuck All Might. Akira took a deep breath and just managed to keep their expression neutral. 'If you're that worried about his reaction, you need another adult to know. If you'd rather tell another adult, that's fine, but you need a support system beyond other students. That's not fair for anyone, especially you, and this is a massive responsibility.'

"What if he hates me?" Midoriya muttered, barely loud enough for Akira to catch.

' He didn't hate me, ' Akira signed gently but firmly.

"That's different, you didn't lie to him for months," he protested, hands gesturing widely as doubt swam in his eyes.

Right, he doesn't know. Akira looked away for a moment, worrying their bottom lip as they searched for the right words. Shoving aside their discomfort, they met Midoriya's gaze with a guarded one, ' There's a lot you don't know about me. If he didn't hate me after what he found out, he won't hate you. '

The next day when class broke for lunch, Akira paused as Mad Banquet was walking out, feeling eyes on them from behind. They turned around to see Aoyama trailing a few paces behind the group. He was usually one of the first out of the room, so Akira cocked their head and asked, ' Is something wrong? '

Aoyama looked around then brightened. "Can I sit with your group today?" The sparkles around his head flashed brightly, but his eyes held a hint of desperation as he shifted from foot to foot.

Akira looked to the group, who shrugged. ' Sure, we usually sit outside when the weather's not unbearable. ' Once Aoyama caught up to the group, they continued to the cafeteria. Akira skirted along the edge to wait outside as the others grabbed food, one of the campus strays keeping them company in exchange for pets and morsels of the group's lunches.

"I thought I—"

Akira warped away as they slashed shallowly towards the wall, capture scarf rising and heart hammering in their chest. They blinked rapidly at the lack of people and scanned the area, eyes darting back and forth as their clone remained in a defensive stance. Moments later, they sharply turned to the cafeteria door, only to relax and drop their clone as Togata sheepishly walked out.

"Sorry to startle you," Togata smiled sheepishly. "Tamaki wanted to know if you're still planning on doing your work study with Fat Gum."

' Of course, ' Akira signed as they sheathed their knife and commanded their capture scarf to settle back into looking like a scarf. They scanned his face for cuts, fortunately finding none as they assumed he phased in time.

"Well, I should go let him know," Togata smiled brightly before jogging away past Mad Banquet.

"What was that about?" Aoyama asked, looking over his shoulder at the older boy disappearing into the crowd.

' Work study. ' They focused on evening out their breathing, and after handing them their food, Dark Shadow wrapped around them. They started purring, which brought a small smile to Akira's face.

The group started talking about where they'd be going, Fumikage surprising the rest by continuing with Hawks. Dark Shadow insisted the hero would start working with them now that they'd proven themselves. Akira wasn't so sure about that but knew they would stand up for themselves at least.

Aoyama quietly added he'd stay with Yoroi Musha. The quiet hero was generally considered stoic by the general populace, but he could be almost negligent at times in his complacence and pursuit of peaceful resolutions. But a less chaotic environment would probably do Aoyama some good.

Hitoshi obviously stayed with his dad, but Koji and Shoto were considering other options.

' Wash was great, but I want to learn more about the intelligence field, ' Koji explained. ' It's so small, though, and I need to figure out whether any of them would take first years. '

Hitoshi nodded thoughtfully, "Eraser often works with the Nighteye agency, and I've seen Togata there a few times. That might be a good starting point."

' He's got a good track record, and Yellow Sun could get you a foot in the door, ' Akira added. ' Peppermint, Present Mic could be good for learning control over your fire side. He helped Electric Rat a lot, and his own quirk requires a lot of control. '

"Perhaps. I'm changing my hero name," Shoto said.

"Oh?" Aoyama piped up after being mostly quiet. "What are you considering?"

"Mercury."

Akira immediately perked up, eyes sparkling as they cocked their head. ' Like the Roman god? '

Confusion crossed Shoto's face as he frowned, "No, like the metal." Akira deflated but nodded. "What is Mercury the deity of?"

Akira immediately launched into an explanation of the god as Hitoshi tried to keep up with interpreting. The bell for lunch ending startled them out of the rant as they abruptly stopped signing, clamping down harshly on their lip. ' Sorry, ' they signed before quickly downing the rest of their rice.

"If you can indulge our interests, we can indulge yours," Fumikage said, an amused undertone turning into a soft trilling hum at the end.

With Midoriya back in class, Aizawa went over some of the details for work studies. He brought in the Big Three to introduce themselves, and Akira noticed Midoriya tense as Togata stepped in. Maybe they've met before? He was difficult to read from behind, and Midoriya wasn't muttering for once.

Akira winced sympathetically when Aizawa asked Amajiki to start the introductions. They leaned slightly into the aisle to catch his eye and sign, ' Talk to just me? ' Akira gave a slight smile, but after fixing the class with a hard stare, Amajiki turned into the wall and let Hado take over introductions.

"This is the flea, Tamaki Amajiki," Nejire lightly teased. "And then, I'm Nejire Hado."

Akira sighed and looked to Aizawa as she quickly got side-tracked asking rapid-fire personal questions about several students without waiting for them to answer. Activating Erasure, Aizawa turned to Togata and ground out, "Isn't this lacking rationality?"

Akira let their head drop into their hand as they stared up in disbelief at the complete lack of stage presence between the three as Togata tried to wrap up the presentation with jokes that fell flat. Aizawa also seemed mystified by the confused tilt to his head and subtle tension in his shoulders.

"...Why don't you all fight me at once?" Mirio finished as Amajiki lifted slightly off the wall in thinly-veiled confusion. Hado finally stood up from next to Ojiro's desk.

Aizawa's hair shifted to cover the side of his face towards the classroom as his posture slightly opened into almost curiosity. "Do what you want."

While the Big Three walked with the class to one of the gyms, Akira drifted closer to them. ' Yellow Sun, where's your hero costume? '

"Oh, I didn't want to give myself an advantage," Togata beamed with a twinkle in his eye.

Akira stared in disbelief. They glanced at Amajiki, who just shrunk in on himself with a small shrug. ' So... you're going to expose yourself instead? ' Akira hesitantly signed. Sure, he was Amajiki's friend, but his idealism kept him from seeing the corruption in limelights... ' Your costume's primary function is phasing with you, so what's the advantage? You are technically an adult. '

"It provides some protection, but you do make a good point," Togata's smile turned a bit sheepish. "Aizawa-sensei, I'm going to grab my costume but will be back shortly."

While they waited for Togata's return at the gym, Midoriya called a huddle. "Against an upperclassman, we should try to strategize. Is anyone familiar with his quirk?"

Akira offered, ' Sort of, it seems to be a Breaker or Changer quirk that allows the user to phase through substances. He also uses mixed martial arts during his first two sports festivals. It was unclear whether his quirk allows all material or just inorganic to pass through while active. '

"That's what I was thinking, too," Midoriya grinned. "I haven't reviewed this year's footage yet, though, so does anyone have an update on his progress?" He was greeted with silence, and Akira shook their head. Between, well everything, it was pretty understandable. "Melee fighters should swarm him, go for quirk- and organic-based attacks first to identify weak points. Ranged, do short bursts of your quirk since longer activations might obscure the area as they hit the concrete behind Togata-senpai.

Mori, do you have your speaker on you to call out observations?"

Akira nodded with a grimace, ' Still working on speed and accuracy, but it's an option if visibility is low or if I'm invisible. '

"I won't be joining," Shoto announced. At Akira's confused look, he continued, "I don't have my Provisional License, so don't deserve the opportunity."

Midoriya jumped in before Mad Banquet could, "That's ridiculous, this would be great practice for you. Especially since your quirk is so versatile!"

Akira added, ' If you're worried about spacing, you can focus on creating taller areas like the concrete pillars for our ranged fighters. '

As Le Million strolled in, Mercury nodded. Amajiki turned slightly to follow Le Million with his eyes as he lamented how they could have just described their work studies. "We can't end up with kids who are unable to recover after this."

Mortis heard Alien Queen's discomfort as they turned towards Hado's voice and immediately warped to their sides, pulling Alien Queen to her feet away from the enthusiastic girl. ' Refrain from touching people without their permission, ' Mortis sharply signed as Alien Queen shuddered.

As the two walked back to the group, Hado stood and continued, "If you don't think things through properly, this'll be rough. Really rough."

"There's a handicap in place, but we've fought pros before," Tsukuyomi said, eyes widened slightly.

"And we've fought with villains before, too," Red Riot added eagerly. "Do we look like such weak small fry to you that you need to worry about us?"

Unphased, Le Million asked who would be first. Aizawa called out before they could start moving, "This is a good chance for all of you. Make sure you get the most out of this experience!"

With a nod to Mercury, Mortis activated their coms and warped, multiplying their clones forward to create a barrier of organic material. Mercury quickly raised several pillars of ice of varying heights, each carrying a few of their ranged fighters as well as stairs and slides for mobility.

Amajiki abruptly turned from the wall with a frown at the numerous clones, watching them with open concern. Now that their first task was in progress, Mortis padded over and pressed a note into his hand reading "found a workaround, don't worry about it." He frowned, reading the note a few times before slowly nodding.

With that, Mortis warped onto the nearest ice pillar and noted Le Million's disappearance. "He warped?" they heard from their left as Creati screamed from between pillars. Mortis looked over just in time to see Le Million land a hard hit on her back, incapacitating her.

Dark Shadow shot forward, and Mortis just barely saw their target slipping into the ground. They swarmed their clones around Tsukuyomi and called out "Hover!" at the same time as Deku did. A moment later, one of their clones was dispelled from the force of Le Million shooting through it. The upperclassman stumbled slightly in surprise, buying Tsukuyomi enough time to get off the ground with Dark Shadow.

It looked like Le Million said something to one of the clones, but Mortis couldn't quite catch it from their distance. In response, they pressed their clones forward while calling out, "Off ground! Cloud formation."

Mercury added disk extensions to each platform, and Uravity dashed toward the groups. A few more clones down, Mortis searched the area for Le Million's next attack as Deku charged toward Uravity with Ingenium hot on his heels. They sent half of their clones towards Uravity while the others spread out again, multiplying a few more times from the first two levels to reduce the area Le Million could reliably emerge from.

Just as Uravity floated herself and Deku, Le Million surged out of the ground and snatched the latter's foot. He had to quickly let go, though as Uravity released and Deku swung a kick at his arm. Le Million retaliated with a punch to his gut, slamming him winded to the ground. Level with the platforms, Uravity waited for Mercury to melt the first disk's connection to the pillar before floating it and moving it away just as Le Million shot up the middle one.

"Middle!" Ingenium called out. Mortis warped onto the now free-floating disk with Twinkling, Alien Queen, and Earphone Jack. Mortis threw their clones at Le Million, letting them fall when they phased through. He caught one of them, which Mortis quickly took direct control of to shoot out their capture weapon. Le Million yelped and quickly phased through it, buying Uravity and Mercury enough time to break the second platform away with Siren and Cellophane.

Pulling out of their clone, Mortis let it be dispelled by the capture weapon. They heard a soft, pained "Mirio?" and immediately whipped around to look at Amajiki, who just looked confused.

"Tama-" Le Million started to say, also turning before going slack.

Siren grinned and lowered their voice modulator. He grimaced and quickly said, "Surrender."

Everyone let out a breath, and Hitoshi released Togata as Shoto made ramps for those on the two free-floating platforms. Hitoshi coiled tightly, ready to move as Togata blinked back to awareness in confusion. He broke into a wide grin, "That was clever, Shinso! Good fight, everyone."

Hitoshi visibly relaxed, Sero clapping their shoulder in a hearty congratulations. Akira dispelled the rest of their clones as they warped next to a beet red Amajiki. ' Sorry, probably should have said something before we started, ' they signed sheepishly.

"It's alright," Amajiki murmured, blushing harder as Togata emerged next to them.

"That's such a powerful quirk!" Kirishima called out as the class approached and Akira backed off to stand with them.

"You're strong enough to slip through things and can even warp?" Uraraka asked in awe.

"Yeah, are you a hybrid like Shoto?" Ashido added excitedly.

Akira and Deku shook their heads, ready to correct them when Togata took over. "No, just one! What you guys called a warp was an application of Permeation." He went on to explain how he gave the appearance of warping.

"So you're able to avoid all attacks and move wherever you like in an instant. It really is a strong quirk," Tsu remarked. "It's similar in application to Mori's, isn't it?"

"No, I made it into a strong quirk," Togata corrected as he explained the difficult drawback.

Akira's hand twitched, and they looked to Amajiki questioningly. They didn't have much in their entry for Togata since he didn't stand out enough for there to be many videos. He nodded with a small smile, so Akira made a few additions to his entry, including confirmation of the DNA-infused costume and the applications he mentioned.

"It's disrespectful to be doodling while Togata-senpai is presenting!" Ida harshly said from their side.

Akira barely spared him a glance, gesturing him off with their head while they finished an additional question to ask Togata. Tucking the journal back into their pack, they turned to the class president with a flat stare. ' It's code, not doodles. I analyze quirks like Broccoli. Pay attention. '

That evening, Akira was getting ready for bed when they saw a shimmer of purple on the ground outside their window. Stepping onto the balcony, they saw a brown package on the porch and warped down. Seeing their name on it, Akira shrugged and warped back up, dispelling both clones. They opened it on the balcony just in case and grinned at the book inside, Complete works of Catullus (Illustrated) . Tucked into the first page lay a frenzied, blood-stained note. Akira went rigid, dropping the book as they stared in shock. "Met with Shie Hassaiki went sideways. Payment. Details tomorrow."

Notes:

What's been your favorite moment in this fic series? What's been your least favorite? At the time of writing this, my favorite is really any scene with Dadgum. My least favorite to write is scenes with the League (it's just so many goddamn people) and in general the provisional exam. Just wish there was a better way to showcase Akira in those moments, but they're too efficient for the first half and discriminated against in the second. There are also a couple scenes in Libertias aut Mortis that were really rough to write, I actually physically can't read part of one because of my protectors. So third years... 17-18 right? Mirio's 18 when Unrivaled happens. Yeah no, I decided to fix that whole issue. Also, I rewatch scenes while writing them to make sure I'm capturing the important bits and the right undertones for scenes. Mina's blushing while Hado plays with her horns. That makes me wonder if her horns are like Twi'lek head tails and bird wings. Did she not know before then? Also why do the horns move?? Unless they're an attachment, they shouldn't be that easily moved back and forth. For any curious, I'm using a reddit thread titled An Unofficial Timeline of BNHA for order of events. Catullus is my friend's favorite Roman poet, and he has some hilarious poetry. Most of it is not meant for minors, but it is funny. The illustrations in the book mentioned are not explicit as far as I'm aware.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

Summary:

tw: gang activity, foster care, anxiety Moving into the dorms

Notes:

everything (except their hero costume) Akira has ever considered theirs is in their duffle bag. Figured we’d start with a little fluff after all the trauma that ended last fic 😊 ‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

Akira lazily spun the chair at Hitoshi’s desk with their crutches propped against the wall as they helped Hitoshi decide what they could pack. So far, they figured posters and figurines weren’t expected to stay, but books, bedding, stuffed animals, and small storage were up in the air. ‘ I thought you knew more about this from foster homes, ’ Akira signed exasperatedly.

“It’s different, though,” Hitoshi sighed, dramatically flopping onto the bed in between options. “We’re not leaving the home, just the house. Right?”

Akira shrugged, tossing their hands up lightly as a small smile slipped onto their face from the lack of effort it took. ‘ I think so? At least for you. We can worry about my room later, though. ’

“How are you listeners doing?” Yamada asked from the doorway, knocking softly on the open door.

Akira and Hitoshi looked at each other, silently checking each other’s comfort levels. With a small sigh, Akira hesitantly signed, ‘We’re a little confused. What can each of us take?’

Yamada cocked his head, drawing an awkward chuckle from Hitoshi. “I thought we gave you the school’s list. Do you need another copy?” He beamed and rushed on, “Or do you want to add more to the shopping list? We can get you anything new for the dorms if you want to keep some of your stuff here.”

Already committed to taking the lead this conversation, Akira tensed but forced themself to sign, ‘ No, what can we bring? What can we take from the rooms? ’

Yamada still looked between them confused for a moment before the bright grin faded into a soft smile. “I get ya, kiddos. Can I bring Shou in on this conversation?” At their nods, he quickly returned with his husband. “We bought everything in the rooms for you two specifically. If you want to leave some items here for when you visit on weekends and breaks, that’s totally fine, but you can bring anything you want with you.”

“As long as it’s on the list,” Aizawa added. “If it’s not, you’ll need to run it by us first so we can make sure it’s within guidelines and will fit. Anything you want or have to leave, we can buy another, sometimes smaller, copy for your dorm rooms.”

“Yeah, little listeners,” Yamada softly smiled. “We want you to feel comfortable and safe at school, yeah? We’ll also be a phone call away if you need us and we’re not on chaperone duty.”

‘ Everything? ’ Akira signed, eyes flickering between the couple and Hitoshi, who seemed more relieved than surprised.

Aizawa huffed, “Except the bed, yes. We already planned on getting you a futon for the dorm when we go shopping this afternoon.”

Akira slipped out a few minutes later with a nod to Hitoshi as Aizawa helped him decide which of their items not to take. They padded to their room and started adding more of the blankets and plushies to their box before pausing at the weighted blanket. Mad Banquet had already confirmed that their parents agreed to the dorm setup, although Shoto’s sperm donor wasn’t happy about it. Akira wasn’t entirely sure if he was moving from Dekusquad to their group or double dipping, but the kid definitely needed a break.

Speaking of needing a break … Akira mused, running their hands through their hair as they tried not to think too hard on the implications of dorm life. Would they be expected to return to the Yamazawa house on weekends? Would they even be allowed back into the warehouse district? Akira’s thoughts swirled in uncertainty. The Inoue still hadn’t made a statement on their status, and it wouldn’t be long before someone leaked or found just the right piece of information to uncover Akira’s relation.

Their phone vibrating pulled Akira from their thoughts, and they quickly picked it up with video. ‘Haru? Is everything alright? ’ they asked.

“Yeah, Mortis, everything’s fine here. Just wanted to check in, buddy. Do you know if they’re allowing you back any time soon?”

Akira shook their head, ‘ After the first weekend, we have to sign out of the dorms, and I doubt they’ll let me sign out to the district. Eraser will probably want me here. ’

“You could always sneak out, right? That’s something teenagers do.” Haru grinned mischievously.

Akira winced, ‘ I told you they know where I am, right? What do you think would happen if U.A. drops custody? I can’t risk that, and besides, you’re talking about sneaking out past multiple pro heroes. ’

“I know you better than that,” Haru rolled his eyes playfully. “But seriously, we miss you out here. Isao keeps asking about his little shadow, and Dabi’s brooding more than usual. Oh, and Boss said you should show Kid Lavender the protective signs.”

Akira smiled fondly, ‘ When is he not brooding? ’ After hesitating a moment, they added, ‘ I’ll see what I can do, but- ’ After dropping another hoodie into their box, Akira turned around to start on books and saw Yamada hovering in the doorway, concern written all over his face.

‘Gotta go, ’ Akira quickly signed, flashing the sign for safe adult before hanging up. They took a steadying breath and turned back to Yamada. ‘ When did you come in? I need to know what context you have. ’

“Sneaking out,” Yamada said gently after a moment as his expression softened. “He’s the ‘family friend’ you mentioned, right?”

‘ Yeah, we check up on each other, ’ Akira stiffly signed. ‘ He’s just worried and was teasing. ’

After a moment, Yamada perked up. “Oh! I came to see if you’re up for getting more clothes with autumn approaching. We were planning on getting Toshi a few things, and your sweaters are looking pretty worn down. We even found a shop that specializes in adaptive clothing if you want to check that out.”

Akira nodded after a moment, a little overwhelmed at Yamada’s energy. ‘ I need a haircut. Can I go home for a few hours for that?’

“Oh! I can take you to my hairdresser if you want,” Yamada grinned broadly. “Ni’s very discreet and does exactly what you want. I’ve been going to nim for almost ten years now.”

‘ It’s really no trouble, ’ Akira hurriedly signed. ‘ Yasmin does everyone’s hair. ’

“Mori,” Aizawa sighed from behind his husband. “We’re not comfortable with you going unsupervised so soon after the attack and your family came into the picture. And I know you don’t want either of us to go with you, so you can either go to Zashi’s stylist or we can find another.”

Knowing the hero was technically one of their guardians, Akira deflated and signed for the first option. Maybe they could even go for a more adventurous androgynous look. Short hair did always sound interesting …

Akira readjusted their duffle bag as Class 1-A trickled into the courtyard in front of the Heights Alliance dorm. Fortunately, the forecast was pretty mild for mid-August, so they were getting by with crutches instead of their hybrid wheelchair from Hatsume. Akira looked forward to testing out some of the extra features in training, but that would have to wait until after the provisional license exam.

“Mori!” Kirishima called out as he rolled up with Katsuki and Kaminari. “Good to see you in one piece. I love the new hairstyle. Good to see you, too, Shinso.”

‘ Good to be back, and thanks. ’ Akira tentatively smiled, running a hand over the satisfying fuzz of their undercut. ‘ Any trouble with your guardians? ’

“The old hag was glad to get rid of me,” Katsuki huffed. Akira’s brows drew together as they shared a look with Hitoshi before Kirishima spoke up.

“Yeah, my parents totally understood. Didn’t take Aizawa-sensei much convincing.”

Kaminari’s smile seemed a little more forced as they added, “Yeah, no problems here.”

As the other students filed in, Aizawa’s eyes narrowed slightly at the rescue team members. Koji and Fumikage stood a little closer than usual, although careful to respect Akira’s space when they started to tense. They sent a teasing glance to Hitoshi as he was a little closer to Kaminari than they needed to be, but Hitoshi just rolled his eyes.

Akira winced as Aizawa brought up expelling most of the class if not for All Might’s retirement and expected them to just follow with the foreboding cloud hanging over the class. Katsuki fondly looked to Kirishima and shoved money at him, muttering about night vision goggles before stalking off to the dorms. He called over his shoulder, “If you want dinner, you’d better stay out of the kitchen, damn extras. We’re having chicken tempura tonight.”

Midoriya went off about Katsuki’s apparently amazing cooking as something twisted in Akira’s gut. They looked away from his group, briefly catching Aoyama’s eyes as the boy’s expression flashed with uncertainty. Akira slunk towards the dorms, closely followed by Mad Banquet. Damnit, he knows something.

Aizawa walked through the dorm layout, pointing out the automatic door buttons, key fab access for dorm rooms, and the need to keep walkways clear as Akira noted the lower-than-usual height of the counters and other commonly used surfaces. The individual rooms were large enough to maneuver their wheelchair, and Akira flashed Aizawa a grateful look at their room being on a corner on the second floor. The two windows provided enough light and view to help the space feel less confined without the added nervousness of being on a higher floor. Akira was right next to Koji and had no one directly above them, so they also shouldn’t have to worry about noise disruptions at night. Mad Banquet was all on the same floor, except Shoto, and Shinso pouted a little at not being in the empty room next to Kaminari.

‘ You can always visit, ’ Akira signed, jostling their shoulder lightly. Hitoshi waved them off with a slight smile and blush, which Akira took as a win. They quickly shoved down the thought that they’d never get to tease Asami like this.

Later, as Katsuki worked on preparing dinner, Akira caught his attention and pointed to the blender. At his nod, they quickly shifted it to the stool side of the large island and grabbed their usual ingredients from the fridge and pantry. The air quickly filled with the smell of spices and oil as Katsuki worked, and Akira found themself enjoying how similar, although better, it was to Dabi trying to cook.

“Did you need something?” Katsuki asked, stiffly leaning against the counter with arms crossed as Akira stuck around with their smoothie.

‘I know you have Counselor, but if you want to talk, I’m here for you,’ Akira offered. ‘You looked a bit beat up when you warped in, and I’m familiar with the physical and mental aftermath of various quirks.’

For a moment, Akira thought he was going to explode on them, but Katsuki closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths. “Thank you for the offer,” he said haltingly, almost like a script. “I’ll let you know if I want to take you up on it.”

Akira offered a small grin, ‘ Great. Thanks for taking the moment. ’ A few small pops were the only sound that followed Akira to the elevator as they felt a belated sense of relief at the stove being electric instead of gas.

They stopped by Hitoshi and Fumikage’s rooms to check on their progress unpacking and appreciate the latter’s dark taste. Akira looked curiously at the pentagram and definitively non-Shinto altar tucked into the corner of his room, but at Fumikage’s discomfort, they dropped the subject. They spent the next hour playing with Koji’s rabbit, Kerfluffle, while he finished unpacking his stuffed animals. The pastels and soft rug lulled Akira into relaxing against the bed frame as they tried to ignore the edge being in a new space brought. Kerfluffle tucked himself under their arm, demanding pets as the soft bunny settled against their stomach. Koji cooed when he next looked over but let them be as he added a giraffe to the arrangement on his bed.

After dinner, the girls proposed a room decoration contest. Fumikage was the first victim, and Akira quickly got the others out of his room, giving Midoriya a glare that held a little more heat than they meant to slip as the boy cringed back in confusion. Hitoshi’s room held a few sketches of Eraser Head and Present Mic posters on the walls along with a meditative mat and some weights. His color scheme was mostly purple and black with a few splashes of yellow.

“It’s so… soft,” Aoyama said as the class peeked into Akira’s room. The floor was mostly covered in a dark purple rug similar to what they had at the Yamazawa house, and there were various cat plushies in a pile next to their futon. A bookshelf held a few nick knacks and their Latin books, and a couple Fat Gum posters hung on the walls. Their wheelchair was folded against the far wall next to their bed, and two beanbags sat by a wheelchair-accessible desk.

“Is that a nest?” Uraraka giggled, pointing to the pile of blankets.

‘ Futon, ’ Akira shrugged. ‘ I find it easier to sleep on. ’

“Are these in Latin?” Ida asked, reaching out to their bookshelf.

‘ Yeah, I like translating poems mostly, although some of the headstones are pretty funny, ’ Akira signed, watching him carefully.

“Certainly! I prefer the romantic languages, but Latin is quite an admirable undertaking.”

Akira nodded, ‘ To each their own. Shall we move on? ’

They felt another gut twist at Midoriya’s All Might-themed room, quickly backtracking into Fumikage to his confusion. He and Aoyama were just too much to process at the same time as moving in, Akira reasoned. From the look in their eyes, Mad Banquet would probably stage an intervention soon, though. After spending a few minutes blinking the sheer brightness of Aoyama’s room from their eyes, Akira made a mental note to never step foot in it again.

Next Chapter

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae: Overview

The fall term brings new revelations and dangers as Akira navigates the Wrens knowing they're alive and their new position in the League.

This is on an every other day upload schedule.

Moving this from ao3 to fanfiction.net, wattpad, and tumblr after the screenshots showed the company is pro-Israel. Libertias aut Mortis will still be on ao3, but still.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Mortem ad Wrens

Bello Licentiae (here)

Libertias aut Mortis

Memoirs Mori (loose oneshots and other media)

[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 24: We Could not Bear to Break

Summary:

tw: human trafficking, kidnapping, being called ‘it’ Little bit of fluff and groundwork before the human trafficking angst kicks into full gear.

Notes:

Giran’s here! I like to headcanon that he checks up on the people he helps. The start of the kidnapping will be tagged with [KIDNAP START] and goes to the end of the chapter. Just as a reminder, there will be an overview in Chapter 26 if you need to skip the human trafficking portion of this chapter and Chapter 25. ‘text’ JSL text thoughts

“Set the table, Giran’s coming,” Dabi said as they walked in the door.

Akira set their duffle by the couch before heading back to the kitchen. The smell of curry wafted towards them, bringing a grin. ‘What, no hello? How have you been? Where were you?’ they teased.

With a huff, Dabi just shoved the mismatched bowls into their arms and continued cooking. “I saw the news.”

Akira tilted their head as they came back for utensils. ‘And? Hand Job didn’t recognize me.’ At Dabi’s scowl, they added, ‘Also, Eraser knows you’re alive. He joined the unofficial Endeavor abuse investigation.’

Dabi stilled, pot quietly bubbling. “Eraser Head,” he ground out. “The same underground hero who went to my funeral and tried to launch an investigation into my death.”

Akira froze, spoon clattering to the table. ‘I… didn’t know you had history.’

“We met a couple times at hero galas when he actually attended. Never liked my old man. Or people in general.” Dabi resumed cooking as Akira hesitantly finished.

Not long after dinner was ready and Akira took out their contacts, Giran arrived, crooked smile grim. “I’m afraid this isn’t as much of a social call as I’d hoped.” The pair tensed as the broker sat down. “Mori, your family’s digging around again. I’m keeping them off your trail for now, but one more show and I can’t guarantee you’ll be safe here.”

Akira swallowed hard and nodded. ‘We knew it was a risk aiming for U.A. Try to keep them off Fat Gum and Sun Eater if you can.’

The rest of dinner passed in mostly silence, only occasional pleasantries exchanged. Giran did raise an eyebrow at the pill Akira downed with the meal but left it alone. As Giran eventually got up to leave, he palmed a note into Akira’s hand without a word. A few more names and pronouns to pass along. Once memorized, the note was incinerated by Dabi.

Mortis crouched on a rooftop, listening to Haru arrange a meeting with two of their suspected traffickers. One was partially covered in scales while the other had no obvious quirk. Their focus seemed to be on quirk and Quirkless trafficking with an emphasis on children.

Not ideal given our pool of potential bait, but not the worst. Mortis would normally be outside their age range, but they still didn’t look it. Ayaka and Azumi were still recovering, and Kano was too young at 7 to be risked. Their only other option was Kichi, who probably wouldn’t be approved by the task force since he was Quirkless.

Mortis wanted to try following the pair again, but from the past week, Mortis and Eraser Head had learned they watched the rooftops. Staying ahead of or keeping pace with the pair made them too visible, but falling behind led them to empty alleys without a sign of passing. Instead, Mortis trailed behind Haru to make sure he wasn’t followed.

Dropping off, Akira made their way to where the district was supposedly being revitalized. There was some construction equipment and progress being made, but much of it was still in shambles. Most of the rubble was cleared out, but the structures still seemed pretty unstable and damaged. Akira sighed as they checked their phone for an update from Dabi, a few members of the League seemingly still at the apartment. Team bonding seemed a little uncharacteristic of the group, but they weren’t completely incompetent according to Dabi.

A couple hours later and some fed alley cats, Mortis slipped their crutches on and made their way to Eraser’s patrol route for the night. They watched a few buildings over as he wrapped up a fight with some muggers and called the Detective. A few minutes later, he joined them on the roof.

“Social or business?”

‘Business. The exchange is happening in one week at a location that will be sent two hours prior.’ Mortis explained. ‘Given what they’re looking for, our recommendation is either myself or a Quirkless kid. We have one who has the stamina and constitution and would be willing to act as bait. I’m a little high-profile, but we know the police’s lack of faith in Quirkless abilities.’

Aizawa scowled, “An irrational doubt on their part. I’ll speak with Tsukauchi.” As he turned to leave, he paused. “Was there something else?”

‘Can I finish patrol with you? Tonight is quiet by design,’ Mortis hesitantly signed.

Aizawa’s expression softened, “Yes, I take it you can’t go back to your apartment?” At Mortis’ nod, he sent a text. “If they’re still there by the end or when you want to wrap up, you can stay with us.”

As they eventually started heading back to Eraser’s house, Mortis noticed there was something on his mind. ‘Care to share?’

“Perceptive as usual,” Eraser huffed. After a moment, he continued, “Have you told anyone about Zashi and I?”

Akira stumbled as they pulled to a stop. ‘What? Of course not! I never share personal information of pros unless the information or pro themself pose a threat to people I care about.’

“Good. We appreciate it.” Aizawa went to lunge to the next roof, but Akira grabbed his wrist for a moment before dropping it.

‘Did you see something suspicious? If someone is casing your house, I need to know.’ Akira searched his face with wide eyes, trying to hide the fear and growing concern.

Aizawa frowned, “No, and it’s not your job to worry about those things. We’ve been over this.”

Akira firmly shook their head, ‘This is different. There are people who might target you because of me, and I need to know if I’m putting your family in danger.’

“Kid, pros make enemies every night, especially underground-”

‘I’m not talking about that!’ Akira signed harshly, rounding to fully face the hero. With a heaving breath, they stared into Aizawa’s eyes, forcing themself to let all the anger, worry, and fear show. ‘This is beyond petty criminals, Yakuza, and even the League. I am telling you. I need to know if they’re getting close.’

Taken aback, Aizawa stared back, searching their face. After a few minutes, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. What am I looking for?”

Akira threw up their hands before signing, ‘Literally anyone casing your house, trailing you or your family, checking in too often or too personally, anything. I can narrow it down from there.’

Aizawa stared back before shaking his head. “What hell family do you have.”

Akira bit back a giveaway answer before signing, ‘The worst kind.’

“Hey Dad, Akira. Pops left you plates in the fridge.” Hitoshi turned slightly from his show at their entrance.

‘Insomnia acting up? What day are you on?’

“Technically my fourth since it’s 6 a.m.” At Aizawa’s concerned look, Hitoshi sighed. “I know, if I can’t sleep by tonight we’ll call Auntie Nem.”

Aizawa ruffled their fluffy purple hair as he walked past. “Don’t stay up too much later, Mori,” he said as he headed to his bedroom.

Akira barely finished the leftovers before trudging to the guest room and crashing.

Akira silently padded into the kitchen, giving Bastard a few pets once he hopped onto one of the stools as they watched Yamada make lunch. With Hitoshi watching a hero documentary in the living room and Aizawa elsewhere, now could be their last chance. Akira lightly tapped his arm as they shifted into view, trying to keep their face impassive as the blonde turned. ‘Mic-sensei, watch your back in the Hero Commission. Please tell me if someone asks odd or too personal questions or starts following you.’

“Good to see you up, little listener.” Yamada’s grin faded into confusion. “Is this what you talked about with Shou last night? He asked me the same but didn’t say much else.”

At least he knows when and what to share. Akira nodded, signing a quick thanks before padding away. Tension still pooling in their shoulders, they sat next to Hitoshi. After a few minutes, Dabi pinged his location as “Safe,” and Akira stood up.

“Hold up, kid,” Aizawa drawled from the doorway to his and Yamada’s hallway. “You were right.” He plodded over to hand a tiny device to them. “Put it where they won’t look; it will start transmitting your location one hour before the scheduled time.”

Akira looked up at the night sky from atop an apartment building, counting to keep their breaths even as they tried to find the constellations they’d read about. The street below was quiet as their legs swung against the side of the building, and Akira pointedly did not look down. Hands gripping the edge of the roof tightly, they picked up the barely audible thump of someone landing on the roof behind them.

Hearing Eraser’s measured steps, Akira carefully swung their legs back onto the roof and scooted a little bit away from the edge. ‘Need something?’

“Mori, why are you sitting on the edge of a roof?” Eraser cautiously slunk forward, hand almost too casually grasping his capture weapon.

Akira cocked their head. Why would that be a problem? We roof hop all the time. It’s not like… their eyes widened in realization. ‘Oh! No, I just like star gazing now that I can do it, and it’s efficient to work on… balance.’

“On the edge of a nine-story building?” Eraser gave an unimpressed gaze, although he did relax marginally.

As he stood beside them, Akira nodded resolutely and forced themself not to look over the edge. ‘High enough for my current reaction time, low enough to not be fatal if I misjudge the distance.’

Aizawa studied them for a long moment before sitting next to them, feet almost touching. “Hitoshi could use a parkour partner. I trained him Tuesdays and Thursdays after class, and now we use those days to focus on parkour.”

Tensing, Akira hurriedly signed, ‘Did we mess up your training schedule for the sports festival? If he had said something, we could-’

Aizawa held up a hand. “No, they liked that schedule better than Mondays and Fridays. If you want to work on your balance more, parkour can help either way.”

Akira hesitated, gently worrying their bottom lip.

“You can think about it,” Aizawa said gently. “I did want to speak with you tonight about what you might face with the case.” At their gesture to continue, Aizawa said, “Since they will either know or figure out that you’re a U.A. student, they may try to get information from you.”

‘Don’t worry, I won’t give them anything,’ Akira signed dismissively. After a moment, they added, ‘What is the average student’s pain tolerance? Wouldn’t want to raise suspicion.’

Aizawa stared back. “You will give them the information they ask about pros, teachers, or the schedule. We can run damage control, and you’re not going to suffer to prove a point.”

‘It’s not a big deal. Not like they’re going to do worse than what I’ve already been through,’ Akira shrugged. Looking away out of habit, they tensed as vertigo made the buildings and street below swim. Akira shook their head, closing their eyes to wait for their senses to return to normal.

Aizawa’s hand gently grasped their arm to steady them, riding out the small flinch. When they opened their eyes again, Akira frowned at the hero’s concerned, slightly amused expression. “You’ve been roof hopping for years, and you don’t like heights?”

Akira blushed, looking towards the middle of the roof this time. ‘I know it doesn’t make sense. I’m working on it.’

“Zashi is deathly afraid of bugs.” Akira looked up at him in confusion. “I’m afraid of hospitals and of losing the people I care about. Everyone has something.”

‘You have reasons for those fears. I have reasons for my other fears. This,’ Akira gestured at the street. ‘doesn’t make sense. It’s just one more “fuck you” from the universe after being trapped my whole life.’

“Why are you afraid of Zashi?” Aizawa asked quietly after a few minutes.

Akira sighed, running a hand down their face. ‘He’s confusing. I don’t know what to expect from him, much less what he expects from me. That’s dangerous with his quirk.’ At his confusion, they continued. ‘I know first-hand what a quirk like his is capable of. I’m not keen to find out what happens when I cross a line I haven’t found yet.’

“He would never intentionally use it against you,” Aizawa gently tried to reassure them. “Zashi would calmly tell you that you’d crossed a line and, depending on what you did, may give extra homework, scold you, or step away from the situation.”

Akira’s eyes narrowed. ‘To do what?’

“Cool off. Sometimes he goes into a soundproof room. Sometimes he quietly grades by himself. Most of the time – unless I’m the one who crossed the line – he comes to me and talks.”

After a few minutes, Akira stood up and stretched. ‘I’m heading back.’

Aizawa let them pass towards the middle of the roof before quietly asking, “How’s Toya?”

‘Stressed. The League put him in charge of the names I passed for the trial run, but they’re not giving him any information on where they’re going or what they’re doing.’ After a moment, they added, ‘I didn’t know you two had history. He knows you tried to launch an investigation after his “death.”’

Aizawa nodded, expression darkening. “It was the first time I saw how corrupt the Commission is.” Akira’s head snapped up as they tried to school their expression. “I couldn’t get anywhere, especially after Rei was hospitalized and turned into a scapegoat.”

Akira nodded slowly, hesitantly confirming him as a prospect.

[KIDNAP START]

Akira carefully tested the empty quirk suppressant cuffs around their wrists, putting on a show of wincing as the spikes dug into their skin. Haru cuffed them over the head and the three tensed at a deep chuckle from the far end of the warehouse.

“Careful now, gentleman,” the voice purred. “Don’t rough up the merchandise too much.”

A somewhat distorted lone figure with dusty grey skin and glowing red eyes stepped out from the shadows. Trench coat billowing behind him, the figure sized up Akira.

Shit. Mortis felt a deep sense of calmness wash over them, smoothing their features.

“Impressive, how did you acquire such a… unique specimen?”

“The kid was poking their nose where they don’t belong,” Haru said casually. “We were going to have some fun, but your offer came first.”

Isao dragged Mortis forward and the figure circled them, observing the slight twitches. “A fighter, as I would expect. I’ll take it for what we agreed upon.” Tossing the briefcase to Haru, the figure grabbed Mortis by the arm and led them out of the warehouse.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 22: Is This Worth Our Lives

Summary:

tw: child abuse, scarring, graphic depictions of violence, blood, wrong pronouns, child abuse, near-death experience Nightmares, secrets, and sparring oh my!

Notes:

the end of the violence will be marked by [VIOLENCE START] and [VIOLENCE END] centered on the page. If you need to skip it, there's a flashback summary after the second marker. ‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

[VIOLENCE START]

“That’s it! You’re going to the Carpenter.”

Akira let out a choked gasp, neon purple eyes blown wide as they tried to crawl forward through a haze of red. They screamed as a foot slammed into their side, sharp claws digging into their skin as another rib cracked. Akira collapsed onto their stomach and narrowly stopped themself from curling inwards, knowing it would just make it worse.

Coarse hands grabbed their red and silver hair and dragged Akira across the blood-stained floor. Their brother’s clawed hand grasped the back of their neck, red-hot pain coursed through them as they were ripped to their feet, breaths coming shallow and fast as Akira desperately searched for an escape.

The maze of hallways only ever led back to where they were told to go, and suddenly they were at the soundproof door intricately carved with a tree. Hiroki roughly threw them into the room as the Carpenter lifted their hands from a block of wood, the intricate carvings stopping without his touch.

“This one needs more specialized attention. Use her back and remember to keep this one alive.”

The Carpenter grinned, sending a shudder down Akira’s spine as he set his current piece aside. “I can always make time for your failures, cousin.”

On the table, Akira tried to keep still. It was always easier when- they gasped as the Carpenter placed a hand on their back. Five bloody tracks slowly made their way out from his hand, dully scooping out millimeters of flesh at a time as Akira tried to hold back a scream. Screaming always made things worse. As the Carpenter’s quirk subsided, they thought he was done. The chisels started a second pass just as Akira took a breath, only to scream as the raw skin flared and burned.

[VIOLENCE END]

(flashback summary: after a torture session from one of their brothers didn’t result in forced quirk manifestation, Akira got their back scar from a cousin)

Akira jolted awake with a silent scream, throat raw as they scrambled out from their blanket pile, tripping over the weighted blanket. Frantically, they searched the room for anything familiar, only to find everything foreign. Trembling against the wall, Akira tried to ask a question, but only air came out. World pulsing in and out of focus, they ripped their shirt off, hands reaching back to touch their shoulder blades.

It's not bleeding. This isn’t our room. This is… Akira flinched into themself as the door flung open, stammering apologies they couldn’t hear as feet hesitantly approached. A callused hand gently pulled their right from their back, which they now realized had been scratching at the scars. Wait, scars? Akira peered up from behind their knees and tensed as they saw Eraser Head kneeling in front of them, mouth moving as he gently thumbed circles in the back of their right hand.

After a moment, the rushing Akira hadn’t noticed in their ears subsided, and they heard him murmuring reassurances that they were safe, were in he and Zashi’s house, and had nothing to be sorry about. When Aizawa noticed they were coming to, he loosened his grip on their hand a little. Akira immediately grasped his, flushing as they registered the motion but not letting go.

“Hot chocolate?” Aizawa asked gently as Akira slowed their breathing. They nodded and shakily got to their feet, forcing themself to drop his hand as they did so.

Settling on the couch with their mugs, Aizawa handed them a weighted blanket, which they quickly pulled up to their chest as a grounding weight.

After a few sips, Aizawa quietly said, “I have nightmares when I sleep more than a few hours. Most heroes get them eventually.”

Akira nodded numbly, briefly setting down their mug to sign, ‘Counselor said that, too. New place, bad day, or trigger during the day bring them.’ Aizawa hummed, giving them a minute to grasp their mug again. Akira risked a brief glance to the side, his eyes curious and another emotion they couldn’t quite grasp. Looking back to their mug, they signed, ‘Sorry for waking you.’

“You didn’t, kid. And I wouldn’t have minded if you did. What do you usually do after a nightmare?”

‘Drink water, ground myself like Counselor said, and sometimes talk about it with Wildfire.’

“Do you want to talk about it?” Aizawa asked gently.

Instead of answering, Akira turned to face Aizawa and forced themself to meet his eyes, even if only briefly. ‘Peppermint is being abused by Endeavor. I don’t have proof, but he will testify if we have a solid case. Natsuo will do the same if asked, but I don’t know about Fuyumi. If we can show something will be done, I might be able to get Toya onboard.’

Aizawa stiffened, nearly dropping his mug before Akira grabbed it and gently placed it on the table. “Toya’s not dead?”

‘No, he’s heavily scarred and wants to kill Endeavor, but he’s alive.’ After a moment, Akira hesitantly continued. ‘From what little he’s said, he was in a coma for a while. Broker helped him find a safe place in the underworld.’

In that moment, the hero looked exhausted, fingers shaking as he ducked into his capture scarf. “You knew at the sports festival.”

Akira swallowed thickly and nodded. ‘I needed to know you would care.’

“Does anyone else know?”

Akira restrained a snappy response, reminding themself he wanted to help. ‘Fat Gum, Sun Eater, and Blank. Also, maybe Nurse and Counselor? They were there when Blank and I helped Peppermint out of a flashback at the sports festival.’

Aizawa sighed, chording a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how much we can realistically do since the Commission will be fighting us every step, but I will do everything I can to get him out.”

Akira nodded, ‘I can and will extract him if he gives the word.’

“Good.”

As they finished their lukewarm chocolate, Akira sighed. ‘It was about my back scar.’

Aizawa’s eyes shot up to where their back was just off the couch. “You said a… villain did that.”

They grimaced bitterly. ‘Bit of a stretch, but you already knew that. Has Counselor told you anything about our sessions?’

Aizawa shook his head, confusion seeping in, “Those are confidential and can only be shared with your permission. I thought he told you that?”

Akira nodded. ‘He’s almost as confusing to read as Mic.’ As Aizawa tried to puzzle that out, they continued, ‘Limelights did this. They hated twilight and underground heroes, and only the best were fit to be in society.’

Akira tensed as anger bubbled to the surface of Aizawa’s expression. He glanced at their shift and relaxed marginally, simply signing ‘them, not you.’

A few hours of studying history and grading later, the running shower and muted singing filled the apartment as the cats filtered into the living room. Remembering the state they were in, Akira went to get ready as Bastard followed them, ignoring Aizawa as the hero skirted around his cat. Their back still crawled as they applied cream and slipped into their uniform, but that wasn’t uncommon. Right before they opened the bedroom door, Akira’s burner lit up. Tapping a quick confirmation, Akira grabbed their duffel bag.

‘I’ll be out tonight,’ they signed as Aizawa and Yamada turned around. Shinso was already lounging on the couch with Houdini and raised an eyebrow.

“Anything I should be concerned about?” Aizawa asked.

‘Not for me,’ Akira gave a small smirk. It dropped with a wince as they remembered Yamada’s presence and clarified, ‘I don’t have details yet, so it’ll be standard.’

At lunch, Akira pulled Shoto to the side with Shinso as he joined them again. “Sorry, I can leave if you don’t-” he said before they could start.

‘Wait, it’s not about that,’ Akira signed. ‘I told Eraser. He’s going to help.’

Shinso nodded after interpreting. “Dad won’t stop until you never have to see him again or are at least safe from him.”

Shoto stared at them, disbelief and a spark of hope in his eyes. He mutely nodded and followed them back to the group. With a new JSL student, Koda or Shinso interpreted for Akira. When the conversation eventually turned to the final exam, Shoto quietly said, “Kendo heard from upperclassmen the practical will be robots.”

Shinso snorted, “That was previous years. With how many nonphysical quirks there are in class and the villains we’ve already fought, there’s no way it’s the same this year.”

Koda softly added, “The mice heard the teachers talking. We’re fighting them.”

Shinso swore and Akira blanched. ‘Did they say who was facing which teacher?’

Koda shook his head, “They’re still deciding, but the teachers will have weights to slow them down.”

‘We should probably talk with Broccoli then to see what strategies he can suggest.’

Tokoyami looked at them strangely and Dark Shadow chimed in, “You analyze! Why not share?”

Akira shrugged, ‘He’s been doing it for much longer, and most of mine consist of basic observations, not strategies to take them down. I can update him on my quirk in exchange for the information, but he might ask for more.’

“We’re already giving him an advantage with the knowledge of teachers being the villains for the practical,” Shinso drawled.

Looking between them, Shoto softly added, “Midoriya doesn’t ask for anything in return. Why would he ask you?”

Akira blinked, about to bring up the Ectoplasm incident when they remembered that they had offered him the information. Midoriya technically hadn’t asked.

After word spread, the class started heroics with Midoriya breaking down strategies for each teacher, Akira occasionally adding their own observations. They would likely be working in pairs given their inexperience and power differential, so instead of normal sparring, they paired off for two v two matches with random pairings. Since it was the week before exams, this was considered a study period specifically for heroics. All Might watched from the sidelines but aside from occasionally making critiques and answering questions, he mostly observed. Anii was with him in case Akira needed her to interpret, but they had already established that Akira only wanted her as an interpreter with All Might, not during private conversations.

Unfortunately, Akira got paired with Yaoyorozu again against Uraraka and Shoji first, and they looked nervously at Bakugo and Midoriya as a team, the blonde glaring at the slips of paper. Akira turned to Yaoyorozu with a sigh and waved their phone, setting up a chat since teams had a few minutes to plan before starting the match. “Infrared goggles will let you see me. I register a few degrees cooler than ambient temperature while invisible.”

“That’s nice,” Yaoyorozu said distractedly as she made the goggles. “You can be the distraction while I drive them back.”

Akira rolled their eyes and huffed before typing in the chat. “I’ve actually been improving since the sports festival while you’ve gotten slower. Keep their attention and go for Shoji.”

As the timer went off, the teams stepped into the sparring rings. Akira immediately warped, darting forward in sync with their clone. Shoji’s brow knitted in confusion as he dodged a matryoshka doll and formed a few more ears.

Just as he stepped towards them and not their clone, Akira warped again, still sending the clones forward to be dispelled by Shoji’s arms as they tapped on Uraraka’s shoulder. The girl whipped around, palm outstretched, and Akira let her touch them before warping again right above her. As Uraraka released in confusion, Akira angled themself to land heavily on her shoulders, knocking the wind out of her.

As the clone dispelled with a swipe of Uraraka’s hand, Shoji turned to the thump. Cannon complete, Yaoyorozu shot them in the back with what looked more like a large bean bag than a cannonball, pushing her out of the ring.

Akira helped Uraraka up before signing, ‘The matchup wasn’t in your favor, but that was good. If you don’t know where a warper went, don’t immediately release your quirk. Tentacle Boy, trust your instincts; I could tell you heard two sets of footsteps, but you took a little too long to react to where I was. Rich Miss, if this was our only spar, the cannon would be fine, but we have nine other teams to face. Remember to conserve your lipids or keep snacks on you.’

A few matches later, everyone took a break, Akira sipping on a juice pouch with cold presses resting on their legs as All Might gave out encouragement and minor critiques. They noticed a Teaching for Dummies book sticking out of his back pocket with numerous page markers sticking out. Nudging Tokoyami, Akira pointed it out with a small smile, ‘Looks like he’s learning. That’s good, right? Ectoplasm hasn’t had a clone nearby in almost a week, and All Might has a little more room control.’

Tokoyami nodded, “I thought you didn’t like him?”

‘I don’t, but I can acknowledge the effort.’

Notes:

So random.org has a love/hate relationship with Bakugo and Midoriya and Akira and Momo XD they keep either getting paired up or being on opposing teams (Bakugo and Midoriya for latter).

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[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 21: For the Courage to Decide

Summary:

tw: torture mention Important conversations and a deal

Notes:

‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

Dark Shadow was the first to notice their footwear, and they looked up at Akira curiously from between their and Tokoyami’s desks. “Why are you wearing house shoes?”

‘My left shoe got accidentally destroyed, so I needed something quick to wear.’

Tokoyami peeked over, feathers ruffling as he noticed the bandages. ‘What are those for, Reaper?’ he signed, eyes piercing and worried.

Akira sighed, ‘Eraser is aware. And maybe Mic?’ They thought for a moment, last night a bit hazy from sleep deprivation and pain. ‘I got burned by Wildfire in an avoidable situation that was my fault, and I got help when I needed it.’

Ida strode over, arm chopping. “Mori, it is in violation of the dress code to not wear proper shoes to school. You should change.”

Akira just rolled their eyes. ‘Engine Calf, I don’t have other shoes right now.’

Ida flushed and sputtered an apology before returning to his seat. Akira held back a sigh as a location ping came through from Dabi at their apartment: Danger.

After a visit to Recovery Girl to heal their leg the rest of the way and remove their bandages, Akira met Dark Banquet back in the classroom, only to find Shoto with them. They waved and carefully slid into their chair while trying not to jostle their leg much. ‘Blank, looks like I’ll be staying another night.’

Shinso just nodded, shoulders tense as the others looked between them.

Shoto spoke first, neutral expression taking a confused cast. “Is something wrong?”

Koda interpreted for Akira since Shoto was still pretty new, ‘My roommate has a difficult-to-control fire quirk, and there was an incident last night that was completely avoidable on my part. Can we not talk about it? I’m getting tired of explaining.’

Shoto blinked, more confusion filling his eyes, “What does that have to do with Shinso, though?”

‘When things were getting bad while my roommate and I adjusted to living together, I told Mad Banquet that I would leave if things got worse. Which they didn’t.’

“I heard when Recovery Girl came. Dad would only call her if things were hospital bad. Then I wake up to your leg still covered in second-degree burns and gaps in the bandaging. How the hell is that not worse?”

Akira winced, not sure how to respond for a while. ‘It would put you in too much danger to explain why-’

“Danger?” Shinso leapt to his feet. “You want to talk to us about danger. We survived USJ, the League could strike again any day, and you’re being burnt to a crisp by some asshole when you have a place to go! I’m not going to just stand by and watch you sacrifice yourself just because you hate limelight heroes. What could Pop possibly do that would be worse than what you’re going through right now?”

‘What he could do or what I think he’d do?’ Akira signed after a moment, trying not to pull away.

“What?” Shinso flinched back, continuing at Akira’s gesture. “Both? Either?”

Akira sighed, looking down at their food. They carefully pulled up their sound- and voice-based tormentors in their analysis hall, grateful for Dark Shadow’s velvety touch and vibrations as they started shaking from the rumbling pain of old memories. ‘Sound quirks are capable of far more destruction than most people realize. Beyond the intensity of the sound waves ripping apart cells, specific frequencies that people with enough training – like Mic – can produce are capable of far more damage when built up over time or pulsed. Specific nerve endings can be triggered to the nth degree, intense nausea and vomiting induced, seizures triggered, internal hemorrhaging, the list goes on. All of which I have personally experienced on multiple occasions at the hands of limelights.

What do I think he’ll do?’ Akira finally looked up, tired eyes meeting their friends’ shocked expressions. ‘I have no idea. I want to trust that he won’t do those things. He hasn’t shown any signs of that in class or with you, and he is married to Eraser. But… how do I know that won’t change the moment I decide to stay? The moment he finds out who my bio family is? After something I didn’t know would set him off?’

“But you trusted Fat Gum?” Shinso said weakly.

Akira laughed humorlessly. ‘Not with that much. He had enough prior knowledge and experience from his work that he figured out who I was with less than I’ve told you.’ After a moment, they added while barely moving their hands, ‘I almost ran when he said their name, and he’s a twilight.’

The rest of lunch passed in silence, Shoto contemplative while Akira tried to keep their head above the ocean of memories trying to drag them under. Every so often, phantom pains still shuddered through their body. As focused as they were on existing, they barely registered their friends’ worried glances.

By the end of the day, Akira was heavily leaning into their crutches while deflecting concerned looks from their teachers. They still met up with Kaminari and Tokoyami at the library with their lesson plans, using real-world examples and pictures to help Kaminari with math while giving him their texture ball to help them focus. For Tokoyami, they actively involved Dark Shadow in talking in English, encouraging the pair to work together on schoolwork since they were both aware most of the time during classes. Things still felt a little awkward from lunch, but both seemed content to focus on studying for now.

Kaminari’s grasp of English wasn’t good either, but he seemed to learn better if Akira let them hyperfocus for a while. After the first two hours, Akira asked Dark Shadow to vibrate at a certain frequency, and sure enough, after a few moments, Kaminari looked around confused.

“Do you want to start on English now or keep going on math?” Akira passed them a note.

“I thought I was doing math for the first half?”

“Kaminari, it’s been two hours,” Tokoyami said concerned.

Motioning for Tokoyami to interpret, Akira signed, ‘I think you were hyper-focusing. It’s one of the signs of neurodivergence.’

“Oh, uh yeah,” Kaminari blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have ADHD. If that’s a problem, I can go…” they started to stand up.

Akira quickly shook their head, blinking rapidly as their head pounded. ‘No, that’s not what I meant. I thought you might after doing some research on your learning style and habits yesterday, so I made lesson plans based on what I could find. Does the school know? There are some accommodations you can get that might help.’

Eyes wide, Kaminari shook his head to Akira and Tokoyami’s confusion. “No! I can do it, just need to focus more.”

Glancing at Tokoyami, Akira signed, ‘I have accommodations for my chronic pain and quirk drawback. Does that make me any less of a hero student?’

“No…”

‘Then why would accommodations for your brain being wired differently make you any less of one?’ After a moment, Akira motioned for them to sit back down. ‘Let me know if something wouldn’t be helpful…’

The trio continued studying for two more hours before Aizawa strolled in, and Akira started packing up and reminded Kaminari to ask about an IEP conveniently as Aizawa walked into hearing range but before he was noticed by the others.

“What were you talking with Kaminari about?” Aizawa asked as they walked to his car, Yamada and Hitoshi already waiting.

‘He has ADHD but is worried about getting help. I was reading about ways to help them yesterday when his behaviors lined up in my research, and they should qualify for some accommodations like a different question format and more time to take tests.’

Aizawa’s eyebrows raised, “That’s dedicated for a study group. I’ll talk with Inui to see how we can best approach the conversation. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”

As they headed to presumably a mall, Akira made a group chat with Bakugo and Kirishima.

Reaper: I’m worried about Kaminari.

Murdergod: why?

Redhot: yeah, is something wrong?

Reaper: he’s more insecure than I thought

And I already thought they were faking

Pretty sure he doesn’t think they belong in 1-A

Murdergod: the fuck?

Redhot: we’ll talk to him, thanks

Murdergod: get back to studying, nerds

‘You should tell Pop,’ Shinso signed.

Akira winced and stared at them. ‘Like hell I will. I’m not taking that risk.’ At his returning stare, they huffed. ‘Besides, he already knows I’m even more uncomfortable around the other teachers.’

When they arrived at the mall, Akira tried not to stare at the sheer number of options. They were quickly pulled along by Shinso as Yamada pointed out what stores had different clothing and shoe options. At Akira’s simple request for dark durable shoes, Aizawa led them to a store that, judging by the muted colors he mostly wore out of costume, was where he primarily shopped. It focused on visual kei and dark to neutral clothing in general. Akira grabbed a pair of black combat boots and loose, dark grey cargo shorts. Turning around, they took in Yamada holding up a black peplum three-quarters jacket with a few metallic accents. Akira’s eyes lit up, but they bit their lip as they thought through their budget.

“Do you want to try it on, little listener?” Yamada asked with a grin.

‘I don’t have enough in my budget for all three, and I need these.’

Yamada frowned in confusion and motioned Aizawa over with a glance. “Sorry if we weren’t clear enough last night, little listener, but Shouta and I are paying, not you.”

Akira cocked their head, ‘But I’ll pay you back, right? That’s usually how this works.’

Yamada shook his head, “No, we don’t want anything in return. It’s enough to see you express yourself.”

What? There’s always some kind of catch. Akira tried to puzzle through what they could’ve possibly done to front a favor in exchange for this.

“I can see your wheels turning, kid. What’s on your mind?” Aizawa crouched in front of them, eyes searching but kind as Yamada looked on from behind.

‘If it’s a favor exchange, I can’t think of what I’ve done to pay forward, and I’d rather know now what kind of favor is expected,’ Akira signed after a moment.

Understanding sparking in his eyes, Aizawa asked, “Would you be more comfortable if we asked for something in exchange for buying you things?”

‘Yes,’ Akira signed instantly.

“Alright… stay with us through final exams.”

Akira waited a beat for him to continue before looking even more confused. ‘That’s it?’ At his nod, their eyes narrowed. ‘And my job?’

Aizawa sighed, “I don’t suppose we could just give you what you’d earn on those nights? Alright, but if you’re injured, come to us. Understood?”

Akira nodded and hesitantly accepted the jacket from Yamada. Looking in the mirror, a small smile slipped on their face. Turning back, they let Yamada pick out a few shirts and another pair of pants, hesitantly drawing the line at a pair covered in belts and zippers. The blonde just shrugged and put it back, and as they checked out, Akira wondered if this was others’ normal.

Akira was surprised by the small personal touches in the guest room from the black and gold color scheme to Latin books on the small bookshelf to a couple Fat Gum posters on the walls. Akira set their bag down off the soft, dark purple rug covering most of the floor and started sweeping the room for bugs. As they finished, they heard Aizawa walk up to the open door. Carefully replacing the books, Akira turned to face him.

“The only cameras we have are exterior and hand-held. Same for audio recorders. You’re welcome to read any book in the house if you have trouble sleeping. Do you need anything?”

Akira shook their head. ‘Thank you, and no, this is… wonderful.’ Akira sat on the bed, pulling a cat plushie that looked like Bastard onto their lap. There were a few others on the bed of varying sizes and shapes, Bastard about the size of the real cat.

“Good.” Aizawa went to leave before adding, “The grey blanket on the nightstand is weighted. Feel free to grab more blankets from the linen closet by the bathroom if you want more.”

Akira did try to sleep on the bed for an hour before giving up. They slid the pile of blankets onto the floor, arranged them in a nest, and pulled the weighted blanket off the nightstand. Just as they were about to doze off, they got a location request from Dabi. After a moment, they rejected it with the attached message “safe.”

Notes:

welp I can add fashion to the list of things I wasn’t expecting to research for this fic lol I knew the aesthetic I was picturing wasn’t quite goth, but I didn’t find what it was until I found visual kei, a Japanese fashion subculture. Also!! I just finished Libertias aut Mortis today :D sent it off for Moss Nightwing to sensitivity read, but it'll probably take a month or two given how dark it is and what it covers (usually faer turnaorund is faster, but it's a lot and fae's going through a lot right now). Bello Licentiae is shorter than Mortem ad Wrens, so I'll post every other day for that one to catch y'all up with hopefully not much downtime between that wrapping up and posting Libertias aut Mortis.

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[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 20: We Must Search Deep Inside

Summary:

tw: medical anxiety Akira tries to navigate a night at the Yamazawa house

Notes:

‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

“What the hell, kid,” Aizawa carefully ushered them inside, steadying them and taking some of their weight. “I’m getting the first aid kit. Where are you injured?”

Biting back a cheeky response, Akira stiffly signed, ‘My left leg is covered in burns, mostly second with a few patches of third. I was hit a little over thirty minutes ago so my pant leg will probably have to be cut.’

“And why didn’t you ping me when it happened?” Aizawa scolded, carefully cutting their pants around where the dark fabric stuck to their skin. He carefully lowered them to the floor and propped their leg up with some throw pillows.

Akira hissed and signed without thinking, ‘Didn’t want the League to see you on your off night after a stranger walked into the apartment.’

Aizawa froze. Akira’s eyes widened and they rushed to explain as he started wrapping the burns. ‘My roommate’s an informant for us against the League. I’m supposed to check with him before heading over because being roommates with a U.A. student would be suspicious as hell, but I’d been helping Electric Rat and Raven and was too exhausted to think about that.’

Akira’s face contorted in pain as Aizawa gently separated their toes with some bandages, the skin sticking slightly. He started applying Recovery Girl’s cream to the sections of their leg that weren’t black, and Akira desperately clutched the blanket he’d draped over them while trying not to hyperventilate.

“You’re okay, Mori, almost done,” Aizawa murmured.

“Shou? I thought you were off- kami!” Akira flinched back, hissing as their leg rubbed against the pillow, as Yamada entered the room in Put Your Hands Up pajamas. He backed up a step, clearly restraining himself as the blonde looked over Akira. “Shou, how can I help?”

“Call Chiyo then leave,” Aizawa’s gaze softened as he looked between the two.

‘N-no, it’s alright,’ Akira stammered, ‘He can stay.’

“Mori, the last thing you need right now is an anxiety attack while you’re at risk for shock. Are you sure?” Aizawa stared at them, looking for something in their face.

‘He shouldn’t have to avoid part of his own house,’ Akira signed stubbornly. They didn’t want to press their luck with the hero, even if he had been defying all expectations.

Aizawa sighed and gave Yamada a rundown to tell Recovery Girl before asking him to bring lukewarm water and make tea for them. “If you need him to leave the room, tell me. Like I said, I want this to be a safe space for you.”

Akira nodded shakily, carefully maneuvering themself forward so the pillow wasn’t directly on their burns. Aizawa was quick to help them, carefully supporting their back. ‘Sorry.’

“Nothing to be sorry for, kid.” A few agonizing minutes later, Aizawa finished applying the cream and sat back on his heels. Yamada set the tea and water on the coffee table within reach of the two before backing up and observing.

After a moment, he brightened a little and asked, “Can I get the guest bed ready or should I wait?”

‘The couch is fine, really, you don’t need to go through the trouble,’ Akira hurriedly signed, starting to sit up but Aizawa gently put a hand over their chest.

Both heroes gave them an exasperated look before Aizawa responded, “You’re not sleeping on the couch. We will need to keep you on observation, though, and it’ll be easier for you to stay awake there.” Akira didn’t protest, just tensely watching Aizawa finish wrapping their leg. “There, can I ask you a few questions about what led to this?” Akira nodded. “Why was your roommate meeting with the League at your apartment?”

Akira hesitated, ‘I don’t actually know. He just mentioned it was a possibility when he joined, so we talked about how to handle that situation.’

Aizawa frowned, “And was it his suggestion to give you potentially life-threatening injuries?”

‘No! It’s not exactly something we can practice, and I watched the flames start going out of control just before I had to dodge. I couldn’t go full-speed or use my quirk because they’d be suspicious. We were going for first to second-degree burns so I could self-treat, but that obviously didn’t work out.’

Aizawa went to say something before snapping his mouth shut and sighing. He stood up, knees popping. “Since you’re staying here, we leave at 7:30. If we don’t have what you need for your smoothie, we can stop by the cafeteria, and Lunch Rush will make it for you. We can stop by the store to get whatever else you need after school.”

Shakily sitting up, Akira shook their head. ‘I shouldn’t stay for more than a night. They should be gone by morning.’

Aizawa gently motioned for them to stay down. “You’re at high risk for infection and shock right now. What if they aren’t? What if they need a place to crash for a few days?”

Akira hesitated, trying to ignore their shaking arms. ‘I’ll check with Wildfire. If they plan on staying – which I doubt given the size of our apartment – we can talk.’

“Even if they don’t stay, if you come here in the future, it would be helpful for us to have the ingredients you need,” Aizawa pointed out as Yamada slipped back into the room with a few books in hand. “You and Hitoshi’s bathroom is just past your rooms on the left, Zashi and I are at the end of this hallway. Come get either of us if you need anything in the night, and you’re free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. We’ll introduce you to the cats in the morning since they’re in Zashi and I’s room right now.”

As if to prove him wrong, a tuxedo cat started meowing as it beelined to Akira. They reached out a hand for it to sniff. Akira smiled as it attacked their hand and reached over to lightly bonk its nose with their other hand. It gnawed playfully, teeth gentle enough to barely make indents in their skin.

Aizawa sighed and pulled the cat off, “This is Bastard. He’s the oldest we took off the streets, and he doesn’t like people.” Checking their hand, Aizawa hid a small smile behind his capture scarf. “Looks like he was just playing, though, so he either likes you or is too tired to live up to his name. He did much worse to Zashi when I first brought him home.”

Recovery Girl arrived soon after and immediately chided Aizawa for not taking them to the hospital as she crouched and placed a kiss on Akira’s knee. They hissed at the contact, breath catching as the burns started to heal and the pieces of fabric stuck to their muscle separated. Already exhausted from their day, Akira nearly fell asleep on the floor but forced themself to stay awake.

Shouta Aizawa. Pronouns: he/him. Call Signs: Sleepy Cat, Eraser. Pro hero Eraser Head with Erasure quirk. Null Trump quirk that negates most quirk effects with very minor Shaker properties presenting as telekinetic effects on his hair and capture scarf. Strengths: hand-to-hand combat, versatility, stealth, volatile or out-of-control quirks. Weaknesses: always-on quirks and physical mutation quirks, emotional connections, kids.

“Kid, you with us? We need you to stay awake to monitor for shock, okay?”

Akira blinked hard a few times as Aizawa’s face came into focus. They nodded and tiredly signed, ‘I know. Running through analysis helps. Eight hours? Or less because of Nurse?’ Recovery Girl wasn’t in their line of sight anymore, so Akira shifted, only seeing Yamada in the kitchen sipping from a World’s Loudest Dad mug.

“Recovery Girl left a few minutes ago,” Aizawa looked down at them, brow knitting in concern. “You’re usually more aware of your surroundings, are you sure you were awake?”

Akira nodded, ‘I was just in my analysis hall.’ At his raised eyebrow, Akira sighed. ‘Do you not see things in your mind, either?’

“I can see things, yes, but I don’t have separate rooms like it sounds like you do.”

‘It’s just to help organize my thoughts. If I need to remember something specific, I can go to that area, and it’s usually easier to find it than before I came up with the system,’ Akira frowned at their world map room where everything was jumbled up, briefly wondering if it was time to try another organization method. ‘And get space if things get too much.’

“Toshi mentioned you like Latin, so we got a few books if you want to use those to stay awake,” Yamada quietly offered as Aizawa looked down at them appraisingly.

“The best way to get you on the couch is for me to pick you up. Is that alright, kid?” Aizawa eventually asked.

‘Can…’ Akira hesitated, not sure what their own reaction would be for a moment. ‘Can you avoid my upper back?’

Aizawa nodded as Yamada’s eyes flashed in sad understanding. “You’ll be less stable, but it’s not far.”

A few unsteady minutes later, Akira was sitting lengthwise on the couch, right leg dangling as their left was elevated. Glancing at the small stack, Akira smiled softly as they saw the Aeneid near the top, the unfinished manuscript bringing them back to when they and Asami would write their own versions of how they thought the story should end. Akira winced at the bitterness and resentment thinking of their twin brought, refocusing on the work as they were delighted to see it was in its original language. Before they could hyper-focus, Akira grabbed their contact case from their backpack and hesitantly removed their contacts, angling slightly away from Aizawa to avoid his stare.

Aizawa and Yamada occasionally pulled them out of the epic poem to check vitals, but Akira was content to just read. While they could no longer recite the story by heart, Akira let their mind fill with scenes from the story, pointedly ignoring times when a near-identical girl with honey eyes joined their cast. At some point, Bastard joined them, curling up by their head after Aizawa shooed him from their lap. Sometime after their third check-in, Akira put the poem down with a sigh, knowing they usually needed to eat something after this part. Now that they were eating more food more frequently, Akira at least didn’t feel as much of a burning pain in between meals. They went to reach for their backpack when Aizawa moved in front of them.

“I was about to say it’s time to make your smoothie.”

Akira blinked, noting the time on their watch with a start. ‘Sorry, usually I read a little faster. I need a cup of strawberries, a quarter cup of peanut butter, two bananas, two tablespoons of honey, two cups of oats, four scoops of the protein powder in my duffle bag, and three cups of whole or almond milk.’

“We don’t have strawberries, but we do have some frozen blueberries.”

Akira thought for a moment before nodding at the substitute. They fished the protein powder out of their duffel bag, carefully setting it away from the precious books before going to zip the bag back up. Bastard, true to his name, immediately jumped into the bag, curling up on the ratty blankets. With a huff, Akira tried to bend over to extract him but nearly fell off the couch, catching themself on the table halfway to the ground. Unphased, Bastard stared at them and twitched his tail.

Akira pushed themself back up as Aizawa hurried over, waving off his concern. ‘Your cat likes my blankets for some reason.’

“Sorry about him.” Aizawa grabbed the cat, holding him at arm’s length when Bastard started hissing and scratching. “I knew last night was an anomaly,” he muttered, setting Bastard on a cat tree. Looking back at their bag, Aizawa frowned. “Are those your only blankets? Alright, we’re getting you new ones after school.”

Eyes wide, Akira shook their head, ‘That’s really not necessary. I’m not on the streets anymore so it’s not like having newer blankets would matter, and it’s summer, so it’s not like I use them much right now.’

“Alright, fine. If that’s the boundary you’re setting, I won’t get new blankets. You will need new shoes, though, since your left was destroyed. Yamada should be back soon with slippers that will work for the time being.”

Akira nodded and noticed Shinso’s door opening. Shinso blearily looked between the couch and Aizawa a few times before he seemed to realize who Akira was. He rushed over, scanning their body and settling on their lightly wrapped leg. “What happened?”

‘Roommate.’ At Shinso’s strangled “what,” Akira sighed. ‘It’s complicated.’

Shinso pulled back, eyes filled with hurt. “You said you’d leave if things got worse.”

‘They haven’t,’ Akira signed, chewing their bottom lip. ‘Last night was just a shitty situation that could’ve been avoided, and I came here because I couldn’t get what I needed. That’s what we agreed to, right?’

Shinso’s mouth thinned to a hard line as he looked to Aizawa.

The hero sighed, “I told Mori our home would be open if they needed a place to stay without questions. They graciously answered a few of mine last night, and what they’ve said is correct, although I’m not familiar with whatever deal the two of you made.”

Shinso closed his eyes for a moment before looking intensely at Akira. “One day, right?”

Akira nodded, much to Aizawa’s confusion. As the family prepared to leave, Akira noticed a small shrine to a teenager with fluffy blue hair tucked into one corner of the living room. A few trinkets graced the space, including a plushie of a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. Before leaving, they met Patches the calico, Nico the all-black shorthair, Oboro the white cat with blue eyes, Puddles the long-haired grey cat, and Houdini the cat Aizawa rescued earlier in the term.

At school, the group headed to the teacher’s lounge first, Yamada commenting it was more comfortable than the classroom and the other teachers wouldn’t bother them. As they stepped into the lounge, Akira took in the handful of teachers grading, prepping their lessons, and quietly chatting while most nursed coffee cups. They were largely ignored apart from a few curious looks directed at Akira as Aizawa directed them to a loveseat and started the last check for shock. Midnight drifted over as he finished with a reminder to go to Recovery Girl if the pain got worse or at lunch, whichever came first.

“You okay, kitten?” Midnight asked, staying a meter back.

Akira nodded, ‘I’ll see Nurse later, just need to get my stamina back up.’

“Do you mind if I keep an eye on you during class?” Midnight asked gently. “If I notice you’re in pain, I can send you to Shuzenji and save you the discomfort of asking.”

Akira did consider it for a moment but knew their anxiety would just be worse if they had to worry about Midnight watching them. At their increasing discomfort, Midnight just nodded and backed off to where she had been going over papers.

Aizawa sighed, pulling their attention back. “She just wanted to help,” he said softly.

‘That wouldn’t have helped,’ Akira signed curtly. After a moment, they left for their classroom.

Notes:

I was going to have more extensive burns, but I was looking up treatment… each leg is 18% of body mass, and at 20% you need an IV, which you need a prescription for the fluids. It’s also quite dangerous to administer IV fluids without proper training. And apparently even small third-degree burns require medical professionals >< I just wanted a little solo hurt/comfort with dadzawa! I asked my Latin nerd friend if there were poetry books that weren’t epics or smut, and she said that’s almost all they wrote (at least that we have today). Figured Zawa and Zashi would be more likely to get Akira epics The smoothie Akira requests is an actual recipe I found for a 1000-calorie smoothie, just doubled. I was originally going to stick with 1000, but with the upgraded nutrition plan, this kid needs all the calories they can get.

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[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 19: When They Breathe Free

Summary:

tw: abuse, medical trauma With a crooked smile they asked, “Offer still open?”

Notes:

fun fact there are only two chapters with fewer trigger warnings: 20 and 21 ‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

“Mori, stay for a moment,” Aizawa called out as class filtered out.

‘I’ll catch up with you,’ Akira signed to Mad Banquet before walking over to his desk with their crutches. They were still getting the hang of smooth movement, but Akira was slowly building up speed.

“How are the kids doing?” he asked quietly.

Akira gave a small smile, ‘Much better, thank you. Doc says it’ll take a couple months for them to recover, but they’re on their way.’ At Aizawa’s raised eyebrow, they continued, ‘Doc can see the source of people’s pain. Can’t do much to help, but it’s how we knew what the kids needed.’

“I take it med school is out of their budget?”

Akira nodded and hesitated a moment before signing, ‘Thank you. You could’ve walked away with no one knowing, and you gained more that night than you probably realize.’

‘Murder God,’ Akira signed, tapping on his shoulder in the locker room. ‘You still want the match?’

Bakugo’s scowl turned into a chaotic grin, “You’re on, Reaper!”

‘Pit or tournament rules?’ Akira asked as they warmed up.

“Until we have a fucking indisputable win,” Bakugo growled.

‘Pit it is then,’ Akira grinned. They snagged one of the larger sparring areas while discussing the specifics, and to his credit, All Might approached with Anii and an Ectoplasm clone.

“Young Bakugo, Young Mori. You don’t usually spar together, is everything alright?”

‘We’re settling the match that would’ve happened at the sports festival. To reiterate the rules for their benefit, we go until one of us is incapacitated or yields, out of bounds is not a thing in this, but we will try to keep it in this area. If we need to stop, we sign “yellow flag.” Chokeholds are allowed but the other person can tap out to drop the hold.’

Bakugo huffed and nodded, crossing his arms. “I’m not going to tap out.”

Akira nodded, knowing it was more for the teachers’ benefit. ‘Ready?’ They noted Ectoplasm’s clone and Anii stayed while All Might went back to observing the regular sparring matches.

Bakugo burst forward with an explosion, and Akira deftly dodged, the heat now causing more of phantom pains than a flashback from living with Dabi. As Bakugo course-corrected in mid-air, Akira warped between his shoulder blades, feet hooking into his gauntlets’ pins as they warped again and directed their clone to pull back as it fell. The explosion made Bakugo stumble, pitching forward at the unexpected momentum. After a moment, he charged again as Akira wove in between blasts, warping when an explosion got a little too close. The loud pops and crackles still made them wince, but it was progress.

Just as Akira noticed they’d slipped into a pattern, Bakugo was right in their face, shooting an explosion into their stomach. They just barely caught their breath in time to warp before hitting the ground, but the momentum made them stumble as a wave of nausea hit and their legs protested the strain. As Bakugo waited for the smoke to clear, shoulders tense in focus, Akira stalked forward, low to the ground with barely a rustle of fabric buried under the sounds of sparring far away and the ringing in their ears.

Akira silently warped three times in rapid succession, tapping into their clones to have them charge from behind as they waited inside the falling smoke cloud for Bakugo to turn. The moment he did, they warped onto his back, slamming their full weight into him while pulling up on his arms, the back of their head above his. Bakugo let out a startled yelp as he went down, and his palms ignited, a massive explosion slamming them harder into the ground as Akira flinched out of the hold, rolling to the side and trying to blink their vision back from just white. The ringing in their ears was now a constant, high-pitched piercing noise that consumed all other sound.

Akira closed their eyes and focused on what senses they could use, noting what felt like a light breeze back and forth on their face. After a moment, they signed, ‘Please stop, I can’t see or hear right now.’

The breeze stopped, and a hand on their arm guided them to stand. Panic seized as they scrambled back. ‘Don’t touch me! I don’t know who-’

A familiar velvety static ducked under their hand, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Nodding, they let Dark Shadow and presumably Tokoyami lead them along. Gradually, the ringing faded into more of an annoyance, and they could finally hear Tokoyami talking about the life cycle of robins. Confused, Akira signed, ‘I’m intrigued, but why are you talking about robins?’

“Your hearing’s back!” Tokoyami chirped in relief. “I didn’t want you to worry that your hearing was gone after the ringing stopped. We decided it would be beneficial to have a steady stream, so I talked about birds.”

Akira nodded, their curiosity piqued. ‘Well don’t stop if you’re okay continuing. I didn’t know they could get drunk.’

“Bakugo’s also here. You almost stabbed him when he tried to help you up.”

At Bakugo’s mumble, Akira grimaced, ‘Sorry, I just… don’t have great experiences with being touched so need to know who’s doing it. Are your arms okay? You seemed just as surprised at the explosion’s size.’

“They’re fine, nerd. You’re the one whose head I almost blew off,” Bakugo huffed.

‘My head was far enough away, and it doesn’t feel like I got any burns.’ At their silence, Akira frowned. ‘Unless they’re getting buried under everything else?’

Akira tried not to tense as they recognized Recovery Girl’s footsteps walking up. “Just some superficial ones, dearie. All Might already called down to explain what injuries he could see, and Aizawa is on his way. Pain level?”

Akira shifted onto the bed with Dark Shadow’s help. ‘6. Can you make the room dark? I think photosensitivity is in my file, and I know you’ll want to check my sight.’

A strangled noise came from Bakugo as he asked, “What the fuck, Reaper? How were you walking?”

Akira waved off his concern as Dark Shadow settled in their lap with a gentle purr.

There were a few soft clicks before Recovery Girl asked them to open their eyes. Even with just the sunlight filtering through drapes, Akira’s eyes burned, and they nearly snapped them closed again. Focusing more on the source of the pain, they sighed. ‘I think my contacts were at least partially damaged. Nurse, can you take them out? I don’t feel like fishing them out without a mirror.’

“Of course, dearie.”

Akira forced their eyes open long enough for Recovery Girl to take out what felt like multiple fragments of the contacts from each eye. Akira quickly closed them again as Bakugo and Tokoyami let out confused noises as they presumably saw the colored lenses.

“Your eyes aren’t yellow?” Tokoyami was the first to speak up.

‘No, it’s just easier to blend in with people with that color. I need contacts for my bad eyesight anyways, and since those are from the support company, they help filter out some of the light my pupils can’t. I have a backup pair without the light filtering in my backpack. Front left pouch.’

“You are not putting more contacts in until I’ve determined the damage to your eyes,” Recovery Girl said sternly. “At least that young man has gotten ahold of himself.”

“Oi!” Bakugo shouted as Akira exasperatedly signed, ‘It was just as much my fault!’

Glancing at the blond, eyes still closed, they specified, ‘She’s talking about my roommate, not you.’

After running a few tests, during which Aizawa entered, Recovery Girl gave them eye drops to use for the next few days while their eyes recover from sunburn. When Akira protested not being able to use their contacts, Aizawa handed them a pair of dark sunglasses.

“These should help with the light sensitivity and color.”

Akira nodded in relief and immediately put them on, cautiously letting Recovery Girl heal their minor burns and take the edge off an incoming migraine.

“Did Recovery Girl do something to you?” Tokoyami abruptly asked the next day while the Mad Banquet ate lunch in their classroom.

Akira cocked their head, ‘Nothing bad?’

“Why are you afraid of her then?”

Shinso tensed, looking to Akira with apprehension as Koda looked on with curiosity. ‘What gave it away? I thought I’d gotten better about not flinching,’ Akira frowned.

“You tensed when we could hear her cane, and you only seemed more uncomfortable with her proximity.”

Akira sighed, ‘It’s not so much her as limelight heroes and medical professionals in general. People thought I was Quirkless for a long time, so I wasn’t a person in their eyes. Not to mention they helped cover up or were responsible for the abuse.’

“One day you’ll give us a name, and we will hunt down your family like the animals they are and call forth the dark upon them.”

Koda and Shinso looked at Tokoyami in surprise at the outburst, but Akira nodded with a small smile. ‘Maybe one day. If everything goes to plan, you won’t need to be at risk, but-’

‘Need isn’t a factor. We want to be there for you,’ Koda signed with a glint in his eye.

A week before the exam, Akira was amazed that many of the students had waited to start studying and were just now forming groups. ‘Do any of you need help?’ they asked the Mad Banquet. Shinso and Koda shook their heads, having ranked around the middle of the class in midterms. Tokoyami admitted to not studying along with Kaminari, so Akira offered to help. Yaoyorozu was also forming a study group, but Akira wanted no part of that.

After school, they spent a few hours at the library with the others, making notes on their learning styles and grasp of the material – however tenuous Kaminari’s was – to better plan future sessions. After the other two left, Akira looked up techniques on the computers for their styles and noticed that much of Kaminari’s behavior lined up with neurodivergent people.

Akira headed out shortly before the library closed after changing into plain clothes, understanding a bit more about the loud blonde but also feeling overwhelmed at the sheer amount of information they sorted through to find what would be useful. They knew U.A. readily provided accommodations for students, so the only reason Kaminari wouldn’t already have the tools he needed was if he didn’t know they were neurodivergent. Or he’s embarrassed by it? They already get teased for having the lowest grades.

Akira was so caught up in their thoughts they walked up to their apartment unannounced and jimmied the door open. Shit. Their breath caught at the sight of Dabi staring daggers at them as Shigaraki, Kurogiri, knife girl, a lizard man, and a magician sat on their couch. Regret flashed in his eyes as Akira settled into the robber role they’d thankfully determined in case of emergency.

Dabi cursed and threw a fireball at them, the flames spinning slightly out of control in his surprise, and Akira had to dodge just a little faster than normal to avoid the brunt of the blast. Clothes singed and breath heaving, they scrambled down the stairs as they patted out their pants, taking a practiced route as their clothes scraped and stuck to their burns.

Shit. Of course, the one time I forget to check in is when he has them over. Akira briefly considered going to base, but they were already low on medical supplies from when the kids were sick. Pausing to take in their surroundings, Akira realized they’d drifted to one of Eraser Head’s routes, despite him not being on patrol tonight. Wait, Eraser Head. Akira jolted with the thought, curling inwards and leaning on a building corner for support as their leg spasmed.

As the adrenaline wore off, Akira pulled their crutches out of their duffle bag and slowly started making their way to the underground hero’s house, avoiding possible sources of infection when they could. The warehouse district streets were still filthy, and Akira was never more grateful to see the district transitioning to a more residential area. Thirty minutes after being greeted by a fireball, they knocked on Aizawa’s door. After a few minutes of no response, Akira pinged their location to Aizawa with the Injury: Severe notification.

Moments later, a light turned on in the house and Akira heard scrambling before the door opened to a haphazardly dressed Aizawa, capture scarf only loosely around his shoulders. With a crooked smile they asked, ‘Offer still open?’

Notes:

I don't usually include cliffhangers but I rewrote the last section going into chapter 20 several times before I was happy with it. Sorry for the delay, I'm really close to finishing Libertias aut Mortis (fic 3) and my cat was on my laptop for like most of yesterday when I was going to catch this up me: codifies what options there are in the app also me: doesn't write any of them down me months later: aww shit

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[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 18: Their Voices Will Roar Like the Sea

Summary:

tw: burns, abuse, flashback involving old pronouns, torture, being called pet/good girl by abusers, grooming, child trafficking, child abuse “Sounds like a match made in hell. Let’s do it.”

Notes:

‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

A couple days later, June rolled around, bringing warmer weather and summer uniforms. Akira was signing with Shinso before homeroom when they got an alert on their phone. Confused, Akira glanced down and dropped their head to the desk.

“Endeavor levels half of warehouse district 13… Akira, you good?” Shinso read through their hair.

Akira shook their head, barely lifting it as they signed, ‘That’s where I live. Heroes never go there unless they’re in a long villain chase.’ Going to their locator app, they selected Family and Safe before pinging their location. ‘I’ll keep an eye on it. Hopefully, it was contained to the warehouses.’

“Are your belongings safe?” Tokoyami asked, Akira giving a shushing motion as the rest of the class started to notice.

‘Yeah, I keep them with me for pretty much this reason. As long as everyone else is safe, the only thing I have to worry about is finding a new place.’

‘Sleepy Cat’s offer is still on the table,’ Shinso signed.

Akira shrugged it off as Bakugo stalked over. “Hey extras, what’s wrong with you?”

‘Not in the mood, Murder God. Piss off,’ Akira signed. They gestured to Aizawa entering the room as the rest of class rushed back to their seats. For the rest of the morning, the remaining Blue Fang members checked in, getting away with only one supply cache and the corner store as casualties along with a couple low-income housing units and the warehouses fit for sleeping in. Not good, but manageable.

At lunch, Uraraka stopped Akira as they were about to trail after Mad Banquet. “I heard what happened to district thirteen and… I know what housing is like there. If you need help, I don’t have much, but-”

Akira waved her off, ‘I appreciate it, but I have a few options and wouldn’t want to put the extra strain on your family.’ After a moment, they continued to the group’s tree and forced themself to focus on the conversation instead of where they should go.

Mortis was greeted by an oppressive somberness as they entered base that night. They checked in on Ayaka and Azumi, who already had a place lined up with their fosters, the throuple assuring Mortis that they had what they needed. Mortis gradually made their way around the room, checking on everyone before doubling back to Dabi at the bar.

‘What brings you here tonight, Wildfire? If you’re looking to take a kid in, all of them are set for the moment,’ Mortis signed, hopping onto a stool a couple seats over.

“Nah, too jumpy to have kids running around the place. I was thinking more of a roommate,” Dabi side-eyed them.

‘Really?’ Mortis’ eyebrows shot up. ‘Most people are already paired up, but I can keep an eye out for stragglers coming in.’

“Where will you go? I heard your usual haunts got caught up in the bastard’s fight.”

‘I’ll stay here a night and see what’s being slotted for gentrification on the news. There are usually one or two that just get condemned since companies can’t be bothered.’

Dabi pushed his phone over, and Mortis swore at the headline. “Not this time, Mortis. I came to offer you the couch at my place again. We pay for our own groceries, and I take care of rent. We both plan on taking down powerful heroes, and our families would hunt us down if we’re discovered, so we’re not adding risk to the other.”

Mortis grinned bitterly, ‘Sounds like a match made in hell. Let’s do it.’

“You look like death this morning,” Shinso grumbled as Akira trudged into class.

‘Couldn’t sleep. New place,’ Akira wearily signed, leaning against his desk. At their questioning look, Akira smiled slightly, ‘Got a roommate. He’s okay so far.’

Shinso jerked up at that. “How old is this roommate?”

Akira thought for a moment, waving at Ida as he entered. ‘Early to mid-twenties? He’s in a similar family situation so we don’t add to each other’s danger level.’ They smirked, remembering the kitchen fire that morning, ‘Well, unless he’s cooking.’

He frowned and signed back, ‘You don’t know him?’

Akira shrugged, keeping an eye on Ida who seemed busy studying. ‘Work associate who officially joined a month ago. He’s rough around the edges but a good kid.’

Things went smoothly for the next couple days, but as Akira grew more comfortable they made less noise as they walked. One morning while Dabi was making eggs, Akira got up soundlessly and went about their routine in the bathroom, coming back out to make a smoothie when they stepped on a creaky floorboard and were met with a ball of fire. Quickly throwing up their arms to guard, Akira warped but not before the blue flames tore at their skin. They shuddered as pain from their current burns and phantom flames from their memories consumed their senses for several long moments. They bit back a scream as the cones of flame seared their flesh. Good kids don’t scream. If you just got a quirk like your sister, you wouldn’t be such a worthless little pet. Now be a good little girl and hold still.

They came to a few minutes later on the floor, leaning against the back of the couch as a worried, scratched-up Dabi crouched a little ways away. “You back, kid?”

Akira nodded and went to sign but flinched as the blistering skin stretched.

Dabi sighed, “Are you going to let me patch you up or do you want to go to school like that?” After a moment, Akira held up one shaky finger and let him apply burn cream. “Fuck, I told you I was jumpy, so don’t sneak up on me. It’s hard enough to control the flames when my own skin is burning, and I could have killed you. Now come on,” he helped them up by their armpits. “I can at least make your smoothie.”

Akira shakily pointed at the scratches littering his arms and face then to the kit.

Dabi chuckled after a moment as he turned on the blender. ‘They’re nothing, Reaper. I’ll clean them up after we get you to school.’

Putting on their braces was a bit of a struggle after that, but Recovery Girl’s cream helped take out some of the sting. They got a few odd looks on the train but managed to avoid student scrutiny until they ran into Aizawa exiting 1C. He took one look at them cradling their raw arms and gently pulled them into the classroom.

“First aid kit.”

Akira froze at the blonde limelight hero, desperately trying to separate him from another blonde hero with a fire-breathing quirk.

“Zashi, out,” Aizawa said more firmly. He gently wrapped bandages around their arms, keeping the ones around their fingers loose enough to let them sign. “Who did this?”

‘Roommate, my fault,’ Akira tried not to wince at the motions.

Aizawa sucked in a breath, “Why do you think it was your fault?”

‘Startled him. Forgot to not move quietly.’

“That’s a pretty serious burn for being startled,” Aizawa frowned.

‘Not good control. Hurts him to use.’

“Do you feel safe with him?”

‘Safer than streets right now.’

Aizawa sighed, “My offer is still open. No questions asked, just a safe space when you need it.”

Akira nodded before getting up, not wanting to take up any more of Yamada’s prep time. Shinso was the only one in the classroom this early, and his worried frown only deepened at Akira signing ‘roommate accident.’

“What’s your favorite color?”

Akira rolled their eyes, wondering for the hundredth time how Dabi went from helping them study to convincing them to play icebreakers. ‘Gold. Yours?’

“Cerulean, like the middle color of my flames.” Dabi looked at the card pack he’d gotten from a bargain bin. He wrinkled his nose but still asked, “Who’s your favorite hero?”

‘Easy, Fat Gum. Yours?’ Dabi blushed and mumbled a name Akira barely caught. They grinned, ‘Ooh, you like Hawks, huh?’

“Shut up,” Dabi growled, blue flames sparking from his fingertips. “I doubt he remembers me, but before my sperm donor discovered my quirk’s drawback, we would meet at Hero Commission events. Birdie was the only one who would actually talk to me without trying to be fake.”

Akira nodded, adjusting the cold compresses on their legs. ‘He’s from my family, you know?’ Dabi sat straighter, staring at them. ‘They sold him to the Hero Commission for having a weak quirk when it first manifested, so he didn’t take the Wren surname. Probably went through the standard brainwashing, too, although he seems a little spunky for the full treatment. I can’t risk meeting him, though, and my family discovering my existence too early.’

“And he’d probably kill me on sight,” Dabi sighed, letting his head fall against the back of the couch. “Why didn’t your folks want him?”

‘He came from the Mover/Blaster branch, so the wings were viewed as a liability, especially with their fire vulnerability. He also didn’t know how to weaponize his feathers at first, so he initially would’ve been classified as Mover/Thinker for his reconnaissance capabilities. Not a bad combo normally, but they didn’t see the potential in his unique fighting style.’

The next time Akira startled Dabi, they were more prepared and got away with first-degree and a couple minor second-degree burns. Akira still bandaged them before heading to school, meeting Aizawa and their classmates’ concerned glances with the same explanation. Finals were only three weeks away, and Akira crammed every chance they could get, mouthing dates and events while watching over drug and arms deals from the rafters. They rarely had to get involved, Isao’s rare Brute/Trump quirk that let him ignore mundane wounds for up to an hour and heal from being hit by quirks providing more than enough incentive for most.

“I’m going to join the League of Villains,” Dabi said as they walked in one day.

Setting their bag down cautiously, Akira signed, ‘There’s more to that statement, right?’

“I already talked to Boss about becoming an informant, and they’re looking for mid- to long-range fighters. I’m meeting with them tomorrow. If I get in, always check before coming over. I’ll try to keep them away from the apartment, but I don’t want you to be seen with me.”

Akira nodded and flopped onto the couch over him. ‘Stay safe, okay Wildfire? Wouldn’t want Flamingo to lose his spark.’

Dabi huffed and pushed them off, nodding before fully turning away.

As the pair got used to each other’s presence and habits, Akira came to school wrapped in bandages less frequently, and some of the tension bled out of the air. One day, they brought a handmade card and a couple of Yamada’s favorite toffees to his desk while the hero was in the teacher’s lounge. It was just a simple note appreciating his patience and musing that he’s not bad for a limelight, but the grin Yamada threw their way in English made it seem like they had given him the world.

Two weeks before finals, Ayaka, Azumi, and a few of the other kids came down with a nasty illness. The gang immediately took them off delivery duties, pulling from their still limited antibiotic supplies as the kids slowly got worse.

Mortis was starting to consider Aizawa’s offer of anything they needed when one of the message runners ran into base announcing that there was a dealer offering antibiotics for the meningitis strain going around. The price seemed a little skewed in their favor, but with who was at stake, Mortis promised to be extra vigilant for signs of a trap.

As they approached the run-down building, Mortis was reminded of their veto power on the deal and signs to flash should they see anything out of place. Mortis carefully made their way around the building’s perimeter from the ground and the rooftops, searching for any sign of cameras, quirks, or… very distinct scuff marks on the top of a lamp post. Shit.

Making their way back around, Mortis signed to scatter; Eraser was already in the building. The lieutenant signed back asking to just check for other signs just in case, which Mortis reluctantly did. Making their way into the building on the rafters, Mortis tried to stay out of Eraser’s line of sight, but there were only so many beams, and they quickly spotted the police force waiting for their people.

Anger swelling, Mortis turned to leave when Eraser’s surprised face found theirs. Making their way over, Mortis rapidly signed, ‘What the hell, Eraser? I thought you were better than this.’

‘I thought you ran deliveries, and what do you mean,’ Eraser frowned. ‘I’m doing my job.’

Mortis sneered, ‘And a shitty one at that! If you want to lure people out so badly, use fucking illegal drugs. We need those antibiotics, and if kids die because we wasted our time on this, that’s on your hands, Eraser.’ Mortis punctuated their statement with a jab in his direction.

Eraser’s face morphed into shock before signing, ‘Antibiotics? The idea was posed, but I insisted the bait be recreational.’ After searching their open face, Eraser dropped from the rafters by his capture scarf with a fierce glare, quirk activating as he rounded on the officer in charge. Mortis knew they should go back, but they wanted to see where this would go. “The operation’s off. I want you off the case and a review of your actions here today. This will not go unnoticed, and I will personally put a black mark on your file so no self-respecting hero will work with you again,” Eraser seethed at the officer.

“Eraser Head, I don’t know what you’re-”

“Don’t lie to me, detective. I know you changed the bait, and I know what’s at stake for people that desperate. Now move out before I make you,” he growled.

Mortis directed the gang away from the leaving police, making sure they didn’t have tails before circling back. Eraser Head was filling out paperwork with an unfamiliar detective, but a slight shift in his posture indicated he’d heard Mortis land. They backed off a few buildings now that they had his attention, and soon Eraser Head met them.

‘Thank you. That was unexpected but appreciated,’ Mortis jerkily signed.

“I’m an underground hero, I’m surprised they tried to pull that shit,” Eraser sighed. “How much do you need?”

Mortis looked up in shock, eyes clouding in suspicion before deciding to take the risk, consequences for themself be damned. ‘We’re still recouping medicine from Flame Hole’s fight, but right now we need enough for five children who contracted bacterial Meningitis five days ago.’

Eraser nodded stiffly, stoic face flickering with barely concealed rage. “I meant what I said before. About the police facing consequences and getting you anything legal you need.” He met Mortis’ eyes briefly before they looked away. “I won’t stand by while you or the other kids die. Reach out next time, you know how.”

Mortis nodded before roof hopping away, slowly losing reasons to not believe what the hero said.

Notes:

While not the smallest apartment size, this one fits the needs of the story best of the small ones (1K):

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[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 10: Whispering Voices Strike a Spark

tw: bullying, child abuse, ableism, flashback, body memories, abuse victim signs, ED behavior, body policing, food rationing, light verbal abuse

'text' JSL Text thoughts

---

Akira groaned as they saw the matchups. No fucking way am I losing to Yaoyorozu. I’ll just have to throw the quarter-final.

Shinso charged into the center, clearly counting on Midoriya not having full control of his quirk. Akira watched with pride as he tried to goad Midoriya into responding but never quite pulled out their trump card.

“Who do you think will win?” Ashido asked excitedly from the row above.

‘Midoriya, 100%,’ Akira signed with Koda interpreting.

Ashido scowled, “Aw, you’re no fun. Why not root for your friend?”

Mad Banquet chuckled, and Tokoyami said, “We are. Future underground heroes don’t want to advance too far into the brackets, though. The public being overly familiar with our quirks will only be a detriment.”

Akira nodded, adding ‘Getting to the brackets is to show we have physical prowess outside our quirks. Animal Whisper and I will be the only ones in our group who want to get past the first round.’ At Tokoyami and Koda’s confused looks, Akira darkened. ‘It’s Rich Miss. I’m not losing to that prick.’

Midoriya bodily tossed Shinso off the platform, the strange red lines glowing under his skin but not leaving any immediately apparent broken bones. Huh, hopefully he’s starting to get a grip on it.

Shoto’s complete over display of power left Akira confused as the crowd wasn’t sure whether to cheer or be disappointed at the quick victory. Shoto was the definition of calm and collected in fights, and Sero wasn’t the type to provoke him.

Akira winced as Kaminari stepped onto the stage, electricity already arcing around him in excitement. Koda’s rocky skin would act as protection against Kaminari’s attacks, but a highly concentrated shock might get through. As the pair traded blows back and forth, Kaminari tried to focus his energy but most of it still spread out too much to be effective against such a grounded opponent. Akira noticed Midoriya excitedly writing in his notebook as he mumbled about Kaminari’s new level of control and potential as a human taser. Koda ended the match by continually pushing the smaller kid back, eventually forcing him to use their million-volt technique, which momentarily stunned Koda but ultimately let him walk Kaminari off the stage.

Akira reveled at Hatsume’s presentation, thoroughly enjoying both Ida’s growing frustration and the girl’s ideas. Those boots would help with jump distance over rooftops. I probably wouldn’t have to warp or use my capture weapon to get to higher buildings with those. They could probably even include more support for overusing my quirk with how flexible her uses seem. Akira made a note in their own notebook to visit Hatsume in her classroom to see about costume and mobility improvements.

Mina easily beat Aoyama, dodging his rays with figure skating-like maneuvers, although Akira winced at his damaged support belt. ‘Hopefully there’s someone available to fix that for him, I’ve never seen him without it.’

With that, Akira headed for the tunnels, hanging an eager smile on their face that didn’t quite reach their eyes as they stepped out with their name. Yaoyorozu met their smile with a condescending one, stance relaxed even as the match started. Darting forward, Akira punched her in the stomach, letting her hastily formed shield drop into a clone as they warped behind and roundhouse kicked the girl’s head, sending her stumbling forwards.

As Yaoyorozu whipped around, Akira danced back, watching for the sparkles of Creation. They grabbed her wrist and pulled as they warped, legs now wrapped around Yaoyorozu’s neck as they both hit the ground, Akira spinning to land on her back and pin her arms. In moments, Yaoyorozu yielded, and Akira backed off, not offering a hand but bowing shallowly as they left the arena.

Instead of going to the stands, Akira grabbed a couple protein bars and made their way to the other side’s break room and knocked.

Cracking the door, Ashido brightened, “Oh! Come in, did you want to talk about something or just chill? I’ve got some protein bars if you want.”

Akira smiled but shook their head, holding up their own. They wrote in their notebook, “I came to talk about our match. I’m not going to try for the semifinals because I don’t want the exposure.”

Ashido pouted as she sipped boba tea. “Why advance from the first round, then?”

Akira scowled. “Because Yaoyorozu is an ableist prick, and I wasn’t about to give her more ammo. I came to ask if there’s a specific style or unusual way to use your acid that you want to showcase. The class powerhouses will probably take the podium, but we can still put on a good show.”

Ashido grinned and started outlining her ideas, Akira asking a few questions but otherwise letting her drive the meeting. Akira kept an eye on Tokoyami’s match with Kirishima, but they’d already worked out showcasing the former’s abilities in case any of their training group got matched up.

As they sipped on a protein drink in the stands, Akira watched Uraraka and Bakugo’s fight in awe. Respect and alertness sparked in Bakugo’s eyes as shapes kept floating a little too long in the cloud. What is she pulling? Akira wondered as Bakugo kept her at a distance, tearing apart the stage as the cameras tried to keep focus on the shadows within the cloud of dust. With so little to see on stage, Akira started following the floating debris up, grinning as they noticed the field Uraraka was setting up. Glancing at Tokoyami, they nudged him and gestured up, happy to see a similar shocked expression.

Even as the crowd booed and Aizawa rebuked them, Bakugo grew more nervous, the tension in his shoulders increasing with every blast. Uraraka finally stopped her assault, trembling slightly as she stood upright and thanked Bakugo for keeping his guard up. Akira grinned as Uraraka let the meteor shower rain down with “I’m going to win!”

While most of the cameras were focused on the meteor shower or Uraraka running up, Akira watched as Bakugo started to brace his arm. No… he’s never made an explosion that big without his gauntlets, right? Akira stared in wonder as the force of the blast rippled out, obliterating most of the debris above Bakugo, showering the field and roof with the rest, and catapulting Uraraka back to the edge of the stage. The crowds were blown into their seats from the air pressure, and a hush fell over the crowd as the smoke cleared on the two opponents.

Both were clearly exhausted by the efforts, but Bakugo grinned as Uraraka started gearing up for another attack, both charging only for the girl to collapse after a few steps. Bakugo immediately pulled up, concern flickering over his face even as she crawled forward and he dropped into a hesitant stance. Her body fully gave out a meter away though, and as Midnight checked on her, Bakugo was declared the victor. Tsu and Ida slipped out of the stands to check on her as med bots wheeled Uraraka away.

Midoriya’s fight with Shoto went shockingly horrible with the power Akira knew him to be capable of. It almost seemed like instead of trying to win, he was trying to get Shoto to do something. Remembering the overheard conversation earlier, Akira blanched and glared at Midoriya.

“I don’t understand the strategy here,” Tokoyami muttered.

‘It’s not a strategy,’ Akira signed derisively. ‘He’s trying to force Peppermint to use his left side. That kid’s been through a lot, Broccoli shouldn’t be toying with him like this. Especially with how many times he’s breaking bones again. He’s going to regret that next time the weather sours.’

The match continued for a few long minutes, waves of ice barely missing some of the crowd until the two were not even a meter from each other and a blast of heat surged through the stands. Squinting, Akira could barely see with the raging inferno that must be coming from Shoto. Moments later, Endeavor loudly started congratulating his son on stopping his rebellious phase, and Akira wanted nothing more in the moment than to strangle the man. Tokoyami put a hand on their arm, Dark Shadow offering support from the shadow of his sleeve as Akira nodded stiffly at the gesture.

As the two geared up, Shoto activating both sides and Midoriya surging forward, Akira barely made out structures sprouting between the two before they exploded outward, showering the stands with debris and blowing everyone back as a large plume of smoke erupted from the stadium and obscured the opponents before revealing Midoriya slumped against the far wall. The crowd erupted in cheers as he was carried off by the med bots and Uraraka quickly left the stands. The rest of Midoriya’s clique soon followed as there was a break to reset the stage.

‘I’m going to talk to Shoto,’ Akira signed distractedly. The rest of Mad Banquet nodded, opting to stay and wait for the next match. After a moment, though, Akira slowed as a soft pair of footsteps caught up to them. ‘Do you need something?’

Shinso frowned, ‘He’s the one you were talking about, right? I want to go with you.’

Akira paused, turning to face him. ‘I don’t have proof right now, and I don’t know if he’ll even want to talk with me. I’m not going to stop you, but he might feel cornered with two approaching him.’

Shinso just shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets after signing, ‘If nothing else, I can interpret for you.’

As they rounded on the break room, Akira almost ran into a chest of flames, jumping back at the heat. They squinted, barely concealing their hatred as they signed, ‘What are you doing back here? This is for students and faculty only.’

“Hmph I was just speaking with Shoto, not that it’s any of your business,” he sneered, towering over them. “Now, out of my way.”

“You’re really not supposed to be back here,” Shinso drawled, expression a touch more neutral. “You should leave before you get kicked out.” Akira pulled their phone just far enough out of their pocket to make sure they selected the right contact before pinging their location.

Endeavor’s flames flared as he stepped towards Shinso, “Insolent boy, I am the number two hero and will go where I please.”

Shinso’s eyes briefly flashed with fear as Akira swiftly put themself between the two, biting back memories of fire raging across their skin. ‘Like we said, you’re not supposed to be here. Please leave. Eraser will be making his rounds soon, and he wouldn’t like you back here.’

Endeavor scoffed but pushed past after leveling them with another glare. A tense moment later, Akira sunk to the floor, back against the wall as they canceled the alert. From down the hall, they distantly heard Aizawa’s voice with a rarely heard anger instead of the usual frustration or monotone he used with the class.

“Do you have the ball Inui gave you?” Shinso signed as he asked. Akira shook their head, gesturing to the lack of storage in their uniform. “Can I do anything to help?” he continued softly.

Akira just shook their head, gesturing to the floor and focusing on their breath and senses as their heart tried to hammer out of their chest. After a moment of thrumming their fingers while their arms itched, Akira hesitantly held out their hands, which Shinso immediately took, gently rubbing circles. As they started to calm down, Akira tensed at another set of footsteps approaching, only to relax as they recognized their teacher’s “I want you to hear me coming” gait.

Taking a deep breath, they stood and offered a hand to Shinso as a mask of neutrality settled on their face. Shinso gave them a worried, searching look before accepting the hand as Aizawa walked around the corner.

“Are you two alright? I saw your ping,” Aizawa said gruffly. Shinso looked confused, about to pull out his phone when Akira showed him theirs.

‘Sorry, Endeavor was being difficult, and we knew he wasn’t supposed to be here.’

Shinso snorted awkwardly, “That’s one way to put it. He tried to threaten us when we pointed out he shouldn’t be back here.” Shinso added with a bit more venom, “And he already spoke with Shoto.”

Aizawa looked over them again for injuries before raising an eyebrow. “I’ll make sure that’s noted. Why is him speaking with his son more of a problem?”

Shinso looked to Akira, who just crossed their arms. He may have followed through faster than they would’ve thought, but Akira wasn’t about to trust Aizawa with this. At least not yet.

Eyes narrowing at the silent refusal, Aizawa sighed, “The next round is about to start. You two head back to the stands, and I’ll check on Todoroki.”

Koda’s fight with Ida lasted longer than any of Mad Banquet was expecting, Koda’s improving hand-to-hand and use of birds as distractions earning him the precious seconds he needed to dodge. Ultimately, Ida still beat him with Recipro Burst, but from the crowd’s murmurs, Koda would definitely be getting a couple offers. Akira grinned and gave him a thumbs up as they passed in the hall.

As Akira and Mina walked up to the stage, Akira attuned to the song Mina was humming, matching their steps to hers as they found their rhythm. When the match started, Mina opened with an arching slide to her right as Akira matched their steps to the staccato rhythm they’d talked about. Just as Mina aimed an acid ball, Akira warped from an acid patch to behind her, going to punch her shoulder only to get met with an acid-covered fist.

Dancing back, Akira matched her steps again, this time charging forward first, weaving around the puddles Mina had been dropping until the last second. They warped from one to the far side of the field, Mina rapidly firing off a spread of smaller acid balls as Akira warped between puddles and let each clone dispel before warping again. As they closed in on Mina, Akira shifted to the left, and with a nod, Mina let acid pour into her hands before tackling Akira as they warped, hurling the acid ball in the opposite direction. It connected with Akira’s side as they spun to face Mina, knocking them off the stage. The two shook hands, Akira flicking some acid onto the girl as the two laughed and separated.

“Hey, Reaper!” Bakugo stalked up to them, face stormy. “The hell was that? You just threw the match!”

Akira cocked their head. ‘I told you during training. My goal was never to reach the finals; hell, I wouldn’t have gone past the first round if I hadn’t been paired with Rich Miss. Pink Queen and I just coordinated so she could show off an unusual style she’s been working on. It wouldn’t have been effective in the first two rounds, and you obviously aren’t a good matchup for her, so I was happy to help.’

“Well, next sparring session I want a match.” Akira’s eyebrows shot up. “You could’ve easily pulled the same shit you did with that prick and won, so I expect you to go all out.”

After a moment, Akira nodded. Bakugo was more perceptive than they originally though he was, but the loud blonde had been surprising them since he first asked Akira to get lunch with his group. He did seem to be mellowing out marginally… ‘Hey,’ Akira signed, tapping on the blonde’s shoulder as he turned. ‘Don’t let that get to your head, okay? I don’t want to know what they’ll do if you try to refuse the podium.’

Grabbing their pack from the break room, Akira chugged the last of their protein drinks and grabbed a jelly pouch. They weren’t in trouble yet, but it took a bit for the adrenaline to die off and their quirk to slow down. As the semifinals wrapped up with Bakugo and Shoto taking the top two spots, as expected, Akira’s thoughts drifted back to Aizawa. What is his baseline? It doesn’t seem like he considers the weight I have now as a buffer even though it’s above starvation mode.

Akira glared at Midoriya as he tried to egg on Shoto, who was clearly still conflicted. As Bakugo made an impressive spiral of smoke in the air, Akira gasped at Shoto’s left side briefly lighting up before winking out. Oh, kid… Akira winced as Shoto was tossed like a ragdoll by the blast, his glazed-over and unseeing eyes having little to do with the blast.

Kirishima and Kaminari stood up with Shinso and Akira, acknowledging each other with a nod before quickly making their way to Recovery Girl. As they reached the nurse’s secondary office, Akira noticed Inui coming out with an angry and confused Bakugo. Kirishima and Kaminari hesitantly peeled off to wait for them.

Inside, Shoto was awake but unseeing. ‘I think I know what’s going on, can I assist?’

Recovery Girl nodded, quietly telling the pair to be gentle.

‘Hey Peppermint, can you hear Blank?’ Akira asked, Shinso interpreting.

A slight nod.

‘That’s great. Do you know where you are?’

‘Nurse.’ After a moment, he grimaced, seeming unsure. ‘House.’

Akira and Shinso blinked at each other, neither aware he’d been learning. ‘You are at Nurse’s office. He’s nowhere near you right now, you’re safe. Right now, it’s just you, me, Blank, and Nurse in her office. You’re on one of the medical beds, and it smells like disinfectant in here. Can you describe what the bed feels like?’

Shoto slowly started to look more aware as he fingerspelled. ‘Coarse, firm, narrow, cold.’

‘You’re cold?’ Recovery Girl brought a few more blankets as Shinso interpreted. ‘Nurse brought some blankets. Would you like them? They look a bit softer than what’s currently on the bed.’

They spent the next fifteen minutes coaxing him out of the flashback. At some point, Inui stepped in, and they had to reassure Shoto over again that the heavy footfalls weren’t his father. He still seemed a little dazed but nodded when Inui asked if Shoto would be able to attend the presentation ceremony.

When only Bakugo and Mina were next to the podium to be raised, Akira turned to Cementoss. ‘Is Engine Calf alright? I didn’t see him at Nurse’s office.’

“He had a family emergency, unfortunately.”

Bakugo was still seething but seemed significantly calmer then when he’d stormed out of Recovery Girl’s office with Inui. I wonder if he also continued therapy. That would also explain some of his mellowing out, although I’d imagine Kirishima and Kaminari helped, too.

Shinso and Akira stuck by Shoto’s side, Tokoyami and Koda giving them some distance after reassurances they were there for support. The latter two and Aizawa ran interference when Endeavor tried to approach Shoto on the way to the bus while Shinso and Akira kept the kid’s focus on getting back. By the time they reached U.A., Shoto was back to his reserved, quiet self instead of the haunted look he’d been sporting.

‘Thank you,’ he signed hesitantly as they started to unload.

Akira smiled sadly back. ‘Let us know if you want help getting you and whoever else away. I know some people, and I know Blank’s on board, too.’

Back in the classroom, Aizawa announced they’d have the next two days of school off after which they’d be given their internship offers. Akira hung back, waiting for the others to disperse and Shinso to give them space as they approached Aizawa.

“Can I help you with something, Mori?”

Akira took a breath, fiddling with their backpack straps before signing, ‘I’m down to the last jelly pouch after the festival, and you said to tell you when I was out.’ Aizawa raised an eyebrow, and Akira quickly backtracked. ‘Sorry, I assumed it was you. Never mind, it’s fine.’

“Kid-”

‘Really, I should probably get going,’ Akira spun on their heel to leave.

“Mori, it was me. Next time, I expect you to tell me sooner, so you never run on empty.” Aizawa motioned for them to follow him as they made their way to the teacher’s lounge. Striding past a few teachers Akira recognized and a blonde man with All Might-like hair strands, Aizawa brought them to a box marked with his name and opened it to reveal several rows of jelly pouches organized by flavor. “Take as many as you want; Nezu keeps it well-stocked.”

Midnight gasped from behind them. “Shouta? Sharing his jelly pouches? Who are you and what have you done with that grouch?”

Akira winced, retracting a hand from reaching towards the mango flavor. Aizawa fixed her with a glare while putting several in Akira’s hands. “Mind your own business, Nemuri.” He turned to Akira, signing, ‘She’s just teasing, don’t mind her.’

After a moment, Akira continued, grabbing ten pouches. “Is that it, kid?” Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow. He sighed at their nod, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The point is for you to eat these as needed, not to ration them out. Here,” Aizawa started grabbing handfuls of the flavors they’d selected and handing them to Akira, who was forced to put them in their backpack or let them keep piling in their arms. “If you run out of a flavor you’re in the mood for or are down to five pouches, tell me or any nearby teacher if I’m unavailable.”

Akira hesitantly nodded, signing a quick thanks. As they left the teacher’s lounge, Shinso met back up with them. ‘I just need to grab my duffle bag, you don’t have to wait for me,’ Akira signed as they started down the hallway to the locker rooms.

Aizawa frowned, “Why do you need your duffle? Your things are safe here.”

Akira briefly froze before forcing themself to relax. ‘I left some things in it that I’ll need over the next couple days.’

Aizawa narrowed his eyes but allowed Shinso to pull him along to the gate. That bullet dodged, Akira quickly gathered their things, double-checking that nothing was missing before starting the long walk to the train station.

---

last chapter and this one’s title are actually lyrics to We Are Determined from Amazing Grace the Musical. I swear when I was writing the chapters from here on out I thought the lyrics fit. They do not most of the time, but I can't be bothered to find better chapter titles.

Flashbacks are rough, and they’re not always the full-sensory flashbacks like you see in media. In this one, I pictured Shoto having a primarily touch- and sight-based flashback, so while things weren’t lining up, he was having trouble convincing himself that he wasn’t back in that moment.

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[aspenforest732]

Chapter 7: What in the Jesus Christ Was That

Summary:

tw: abuse, starvation, bullying, trauma responses

Notes:

‘text‘ is JSL Text is thoughts

Akira slipped into class a few minutes before the bell, chugging the last of their protein drink as Mad Banquet clustered around them. Brushing aside their concerns, Akira just signed, ‘Few days at Nurse office. Still tired. You okay?’

Tokoyami and Shinso got away with a few scrapes and a nosebleed for the latter, already having worked on strategies to fight together during their lunches. Koda was mostly embarrassed at his inaction while Aizawa was attacked, but they were quick to reassure him. Akira even let slip that they froze when the Nomu first grabbed Aizawa.

‘No one could’ve expected that, even Aizawa was caught by surprise at its strength,’ Akira gently reminded Koda.

“Hey Tsu, who do you think is teaching homeroom today?” Uraraka asked as the Mad Banquet made their way to their seats with Ida.

Shinso snorted, signing to Akira, ‘Loud Cockatoo would kill Sleepy Cat if he…really?'

Akira barely held back a snort at the call signs only to release a small laugh as Aizawa stalked in, face still half covered in bandages and arm in a sling. Ida was fortunately too occupied with their teacher’s condition to notice their shoulders bobbing, but Dark Shadow and Tokoyami looked over at them in confusion.

“My well-being doesn’t matter. And more importantly, the fight is not yet over,” Aizawa replied to Ida’s concern. The rest of the class started to panic in their own ways as Akira nodded slightly, remembering Boss’ words last night. “The U.A. sports festival is drawing near.”

Akira blinked in surprise as the class turned worried expressions and concerns to Aizawa. “Is it okay to have a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?” Jiro asked, Ojiro echoing her concern.

“Apparently, they think of it as U.A. showing that our crisis management system is solid as a rock by holding the event. Security will also be strengthened to five times that of previous years.”

As Aizawa and the class discussed the cultural impact of the festival, Akira listened with interest. Family events had always been about networking and showing off each branch’s strongest quirks of the generation, and it seemed the festival held a similar purpose for pros scouting students. I wonder if the library will have footage from past sports festivals, Akira wondered. They frowned as Jiro insulted Kaminari, making a note to check on the kid later.

As health class let out, most of the class hung back to talk about how they could stand out. ‘Blank, you really should mix up how it looks like your quirk activates. With most of Japan watching, us future underground heroes shouldn’t give up too much information about our quirks.’

Shinso nodded, ‘Loud Cockatoo and Sleepy Cat are helping me with technique and variety, especially since my capture weapon was approved. How did you get yours to move on its own? Do you have some kind of secondary quirk?’

Akira smirked, holding a finger to their lips, which drew a quiet laugh from Shinso and Koda. As Shinso threw them a mock offended glare, Akira tuned into Kaminari complimenting Shoji’s stature.

“I think you’ll stand out, too,” Jiro jeered, mimicking Kaminari’s seizure state.

‘Hey!’ Akira signed sharply, stalking over and slamming their cane as Kaminari winced. ‘Leave him alone and mind your own business, prick.’

Jiro took a half step back at their intensity. “Geez, can’t you take a joke? I was just pointing out the obvious.”

Akira’s eyes narrowed, expression stormy. ‘It clearly wasn’t. Now f- back off before I make you.’

As Jiro backed up with her hands up, Akira spun on their heel only to come face to chest with Bakugo. Their breath caught a moment as they tried not to flinch, signing a quick ‘excuse me’ to the boy as they went to move past.

“Hey Reaper, you’re joining us for lunch.”

Akira stumbled, looking up in shock at Bakugo’s impassive face. 'Do I… have a choice?’

“No,” Bakugo huffed and pulled Kaminari along with an expectant glance at them.

Akira fumbled, looking to their Mad Banquet, who looked just as confused and unhelpful. Akira weakly gestured at Bakugo and followed his group to the cafeteria.

Kirishima animatedly patted Akira on the back, earning a flinch. “That was so manly, Mori! Thanks for standing up for Kamibro like that.”

Glancing between them, suddenly very aware that only one of them knew sign, Akira pulled out their notebook.

“I’ve been catching up. I can interpret, Reaper,” Bakugo said as he signed, hands fumbling slightly over their call sign.

‘Thanks? I just don’t like people who hurt others over something medical or that they can’t control,' Akira signed, having to fingerspell a couple words for Bakugo. After a moment, they added, ‘Please don’t touch me, though.’

“Alright, sorry man- uh, dude? Sorry, what do you prefer?” Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Akira offered a small smile. ‘I don’t mind, just don’t use feminine terms.’

Kirishima grinned and started talking strategy for the sports festival with Bakugo, who still had a protective arm around Kaminari’s shoulders. They planned on sparring in the meantime to build up Kirishima’s resistance while Bakugo didn’t have to worry as much about holding back.

Since Bakugo was occupied, Akira jotted down in their notebook and passed it to Kaminari, “My costume uses non-conductive material if you need someone to push your limits with.”

Kaminari brightened, electricity arcing over his skin and making Bakugo’s muscles tense slightly as Akira shifted away. “That would be awesome, Mori! I thought you were sparring with Shinso and Koda, though.” They sheepishly rubbed his neck, fingers brushing against Bakugo’s arm. “You don’t have to take pity on me if you want to be with your friends.”

“Hey Pikachu,” Bakugo slapped Kaminari’s head, “anyone pitying you is an extra who doesn’t know shit! Spar with Reaper if you don’t want to wait around for Shitty Hair to be exhausted from sparring with me.”

Akira retrieved their now slightly charred notebook with a shaky smile. ‘We were planning on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school in Gym Beta. We still have to get a teacher to sign off on it, though. If you three join us, we’ll be just under the ratio limit for teacher to student supervision.’

“That sounds totally manly, Mori!” Kirishima cheered as Bakugo tch’ed. “Let’s set up a group chat so we can make sure everyone’s on board.”

Akira blushed, writing down Tokoyami, Koda, and Shinso’s numbers. ‘I don’t have a phone, but they can keep me updated.’

“What? Everyone has a phone!” Kaminari gawked. After a moment, they bit his lip, “If you don’t want us to have your number, that’s fine, just say so.”

Akira frantically waved their hands before signing, ‘No, I really don’t have a phone. I’m barely scraping by right now, and I can’t afford one on top of everything. It’s why I’m not in the class group chat, either.’

As they got in line for lunch, Akira suddenly remembered that the trio sat at one of the “popular kids” tables in the middle of the noise. Desperately wanting to back out, Akira tensed up, barely acknowledging the extra serving from Lunch Rush as they tried to find an escape.

To their surprise, as Bakugo started towards their usual table, Kirishima pointedly glanced back and guided them to a quieter corner of the room. “I know we haven’t talked much since Kamibro and I are still learning JSL, but I’m totally pumped to get to know you,” Kirishima said as they sat down.

‘I really don’t mind writing in my notebook while people learn,’ Akira sighed, jumping at a surge in volume as students settled. ‘Did you three know each other before U.A.?’

“Nah, we met during the entrance exam, and Bakubro nearly blew my head off for ‘getting in his way,’” Kaminari laughed.

“I said stop calling me that, Pikachu,” Bakugo growled, a series of pops coming from his hands. Caught between Kaminari and Kirishima, Akira pulled back slightly as they tried to focus on their food’s taste and texture over the mini explosions across from them.

“How about your squad?” Kirishima asked, a light slap stopping the pops to Akira’s relief.

‘I briefly met Blank at the entrance exam and suggested they use his quirk on other students instead of trying to solo bots. I met Raven and Dark Shadow since they sit next to me, and Animal Whisper I met at the quirk assessment test.’ Akira winced, remembering that disaster of an aftermath. ‘Oh, what call signs would you prefer? I know Bakugo didn’t like Pomeranian,’ Akira hesitantly added.

“Of course, I didn’t fucking like Pomeranian!” Bakugo shouted, making Akira flinch.

“You do look a bit like one,” Kirishima chuckled, jostling his shoulder, as Kaminari snickered. “My hero name will be Red Riot, would that work?”

Akira shook their head, ‘Call signs are for talking as civilians. While working, I’d use your hero name or a shortened version for long ones.’

Kirishima hummed, “You can totally pick mine as long as it’s manly.”

“Would Pikachu work?” Kaminari asked excitedly, buzzing in their seat.

Running through some sample sentences in their head, Akira winced. ‘That could get weird. What about Electric Rat? Pikachu is the round yellow one, right?’

Kaminari gasped, “You’ve never played Pokémon?”

“Kamibro, they don’t have a phone. Of course they haven’t played Pokémon.”

‘What about Red Hot?’ Akira asked. Bakugo and Kirishima snorted their drinks, the latter turning almost as red as his hair. ‘What? It’s a candy and sounds manly… oh.’ Akira blushed, remembering why hot was manly.

“No no no, I like it!” Kirishima grinned.

“Murder God.”

Akira blinked at Bakugo. ‘I- I’m sorry, do you mean murder of crows or killing someone murder?’ Bakugo just glared at them for a moment, making Akira briefly question their safety. ‘Ah, Murder God it is.’ Akira signed, going with a murder of crows so they didn’t have to be so violent when referring to him. Not that it wouldn’t suit the explosive blonde…

“So how does your quirk work?” Kaminari asked after a moment of peace. Akira cocked their head, motioning for him to continue. “I mean, obviously you need to eat a lot, but is that because you were overusing it last week? Or is this more what you’re used to?”

Akira paused, considering them for a moment. ‘My quirk is fueled by my metabolism instead of my stamina, so yeah, I need to eat a lot. This is more than usual, though… maybe Nurse said something? I didn’t lose that much weight at USJ.’

Kaminari went back to his food, but Kirishima frowned. “Does that mean you could starve from using your quirk too much?”

Akira shrugged, ‘Yeah, but everyone runs the risk of getting hurt by their quirk, right? If your hardened skin breaks in the wrong spot, a normally glancing blow could easily kill you, Electric Rat has a seizure every time they overuse his quirk, and Murder God…’ Akira cocked their head. ‘Can you get hurt by your own quirk? I haven’t seen explosion scars on you, but the patterns might be different than what I’m used to since they’re emanating from your hands.’

“None of your fucking business, extra,” Bakugo snarled.

Shrinking in on themself, Akira quickly finished their second portion and packed the third while Kaminari and Kirishima had Bakugo distracted in conversation. Just when they thought the trio hadn’t noticed, they saw Bakugo glance at them, eyes narrowing as they spooned the last of the gyutan and rice into their container before setting the bowl back down on the tray.

Glancing at their watch, Akira signed an excuse about the locker room before hurrying off. I knew U.A. students would be weird, but what the fuck was that?

As Math let out, Akira startled at the cacophony from just outside their classroom door. Peeking their head through the back door, it seemed not as many students were paying attention to it. They gestured their squad towards it, lightly pushing through the crowd of what seemed like mostly General Studies students. Akira just made out Bakugo talking shit about scouting the enemy as they made it past the crowd, a loud kid from Class B joining the shouting as Bakugo sauntered away.

‘Sleepy Cat said he and Loud Cockatoo would supervise the sparring on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively.’ Shinso signed, Dark Shadow releasing an odd sound akin to laughter. ‘Already put it in the group chat, so don’t worry about telling the others.’

Akira nodded appreciatively. ‘I’m going to see if the library has recordings of previous sports festivals to get an idea of the challenges. Apparently, kids who aren’t in the hero course can and have transferred after winning the festival, so we might get some new faces. Blank, I told Electric Rat I’d help him test their quirk’s limits, so feel free to partner up with whomever for the first half.’

Notes:

I personally don’t like how injured Aizawa was in the USJ, so Ida getting help early and Akira running interference (effectively taking the third slam onward from the Nomu) reduced Aizawa’s injuries I also liked a headcanon I’ve seen in a few fics that Kaminari shorting out is a seizure so decided to look into it. Apparently, it’s not just a headcanon! It’s entirely possible he’s experiencing a generalized seizure called atypical absence seizure: blank staring, eye blinking, hand motions, and fluttering eyelids caused by abnormal electrical activity in both sides of the brain.

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