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

Edit: fixed the formatting; italicization didn't copy for some reason the first time

'text' JSL
Text thoughts

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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.