Mortem ad Wrens

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.'