Mortem ad Wrens

Chapter 4: Mad Banquet

tw: underground crime syndicate, drug running, Ed behaviors

Akira: friendship?
Shinso: NO FRIENDS! ONLY STUDY!
Akira: ...work connections?
Shinso: ...fine

'text' is JSL
Text is thoughts

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The next couple days were blessedly incident-free, although Bakugo kept trying to fight Midoriya for some reason. Akira was starting to see what caused the small starburst scars along the latter's arms and back. Kaminari profusely apologized for the battle trial, but Akira just shrugged them off, the cream seemingly worked better on fresh burns and scars than old ones. Dark Shadow still picked up on their discomfort around Kaminari and gave the kid warning glares when he got too close.

The press at the front gates on Wednesday led Akira to just warp inside, shuddering at the cameras that could have caught their image. Media attention was the last thing they needed, and of course it was about All Might. At least Aoyama seemed to enjoy the attention.

'Blank!' Akira signed from behind him in the lunch line. 'Want to eat outside with us?' they gestured to Tokoyami and Koda ahead of them.

Shinso's eyes narrowed, searching Akira's face. 'Why?'

Akira cocked their head, confused. 'You know JSL. Animal Whisper and I know JSL. We're tutoring Raven and Dark Shadow, and you seem like you could use a... connection?'

'I'm not here to make friends!'

'Like I said, connection. If you don't like us, you can leave at any time. No hard feelings.' After a moment, Akira continued. 'I know I'm going to be an underground hero, and Raven is considering it as well. Your quirk would be perfect for it, so if nothing else, we'll know whether we want to work together in the future.'

Shinso stared at them for a long moment, grabbing their tray before nodding sharply. Akira grinned and gave a thumbs up to Koda and Tokoyami. Lunch Rush looked like he was going to apologize for the other day, but Akira rapidly shook their head, glancing at Shinso before taking their servings.

Koda tapped on Shinso's shoulder as they walked to their tree, smiling apologetically at the boy's flinch. 'I usually interpret for Reaper. If you're more comfortable signing than talking, I can interpret for you, too.'

After a moment, Shinso muttered, "I'm fine."

'Oh, I was meaning to ask you,' Akira signed as they lowered themself with their cane, turning slightly to give Shinso a little privacy. 'Are you safe? At home, I mean? I've seen scars like the ones you're concealing before.'

Shinso immediately reached up to where the scars were just slightly indented in his skin, the discoloration mostly covered by basic concealer. They frowned for a moment before his expression softened. 'I wasn't, but I think I am now. They haven't done anything like this.'

Seeing the sliver of uncertainty in his expression and the cautious yet hanging in the air, Akira tried to give a reassuring smile. 'If they pull anything like that, and I mean anything, tell me. I've helped kids out of those situations before, and I'll do it again in a heartbeat.'

Shinso chuffed and nodded, turning back to the other two. "Mori said you're teaching Tokoyami JSL."

Koda smiled and started explaining what they'd covered as Akira scarfed down most of their food and packed a quarter of it for dinner. Akira occasionally corrected Tokoyami's gestures but mostly kept to themself, double-checking their math for what they needed this month.