Mortem ad Wrens: Overview

Akira told themself they would become a hero to protect children from their corrupt society and to take down their family. Now, attending UA high school, they’re discovering the nuances of hero culture and limelight heroes. Follow their journey as Akira finds themselves fighting on multiple fronts against enemies seen and unseen.

Or: chaotic street rat gets into UA and tries to keep people from discovering their past and present while scheming for their future

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.

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Bello Licentiae (fic 2)

Libertias aut Mortis (fic 3)

Memoirs Mori (loose oneshots and other media)

Bello Licentiae Chapter 26: Finals

Summary:

' 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:

Previous Chapter

Bello Licentiae Chapter 24: Beginning of the End

Summary:

"Do you want to tell us why Deika City is flattened?" Aizawa drawled once Eri was in bed. Hitoshi stared at Akira as they grimaced.

' First of all, not my fault, ' Akira quickly clarified. ' Wildfire failed to communicate once they had cell service that the group claimed to have Broker. He's expecting me to call to talk about next steps. ' They coughed, a black globule falling out of their mouth as more started to pour from their throat. Before enveloped, they cursed and managed to sign, ' Supposed to warn me. '

Mortis glared at the doctor as they appeared next to him. ' You just took me in front of his kid. This is why Wildfire was going to warn me. I could've told you to wait a minute. '

"It's no matter, Aizawa knows the plan," the Doctor waved them off. His eyes roamed hungrily over their form while he sat in a spinning desk chair.

Mortis' eye twitched in confusion as they took in the dark lab. Behind him were rows of monitors, and in their periphery, they could see tall vats of purple goo containing what used to be people. "Now, from my understanding, I'm to allow you use of my high end nomu to remove brainwashing. Correct?"

' Yes, then- '

"And what are you to give me in return? A few analyses? Your quirk? Your body to work with?" the Doctor scoffed. "Shigaraki may have proven himself, but you have yet to."

Mortis inwardly bristled but focused on playing the part. Which part though? Mortis signed in a forced calm, 'All for One didn't make my end of the deal clear other than the limitations on my assistance: nothing I'm uncomfortable with. I offered the League my analyses of their quirks, which would lead to more efficient use and suggestions for support items.'

The Doctor hummed, making their skin crawl as he stalked toward them. He circled them, and it took most of their focus just to stop their capture scarf from snapping out. "I suppose that's a start. Tell me, did you know bodies that go through forced quirk manifestation can adapt faster to new quirks? We don't get our hands on many of those these days. Give me a high end..." the Doctor reached for their shoulder.

Mortis whipped away, hand going for a dagger as they peered into the darkness for potential exits. He merely tsked and waddled back to his chair. "Or you can give me Erasure."

Mortis immediately shook their head, ' Neither of those I'm comfortable with. I saw the files. People who go through FQM have their drawback exaggerated even further by more quirks. Even if I was open to the idea, the drawback would render me useless. '

"And Erasure?" the Doctor asked, lips twitching downward against his calculating facade.

' Not on the table, ' Mortis signed sharply.

"What a pity," the Doctor sighed. "Back then, I really wanted to get my hands on Erasure instead." At their lack of reaction, he raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Has the little street rat figure it out already? Perhaps your analysis will be of some use after all. If those children improve enough in one month, I'll consider granting my end of the bargain."

After confirming, Mortis started coughing up more of the black ooze, shuddering as it enveloped and deposited them next to Aizawa. They coughed a few more times to ensure it was out before blinking up at the hero, who looked relieved.

"They're back," Aizawa said into his phone before hanging up. "How are you feeling, kid? Let me get you some tea."

Akira nodded and sank into the armchair, soon joined by a quieter-than-usual Oboro. Bastard glared up at them and swatted the white cat's tail. Akira rolled their eyes and scooped the tuxedo onto the other arm of the chair, where he begrudgingly settled while flicking his tail in their face. Hitoshi openly stared at them from where he had frozen in a petting motion, Puddles' tail poking out from under the couch.

"So, is that normal?" Hitoshi finally asked as Aizawa brought tea over.

' No, they just got in contact with someone, and that was him bringing me to meet him, ' Akira shuddered. The tea slid down their throat much smoother than the ooze came up, but they still had to resist the urge to gag. After a few sips, they continued, ' The quirk uses familiar people like Kurogiri's uses coordinates. I need to talk with Sleepy Cat and Loud Cockatoo alone. It's about the other part Raven mentioned. '

Hitoshi frowned and settled further into the couch. "No."

"Hitoshi," Aizawa started in a warning tone.

"No!" He snapped. "Akira, you keep pushing us away like we're not ready for some grand stage. You keep saying it's too dangerous, it's too big. Well, guess what? We. Don't. Care. We want to help you, and we can't do that if we don't know what's going on."

' You also can't be targeted if you don't know what's going on ,' Akira harshly signed. Their gaze pierced into his, desperately trying to make them understand even though they knew that he'd already decided. That this was always going to end this way. ' The only people who know are people who know out of necessity, figured enough out I had to tell them, or I specifically allowed in because of their connections and abilities. Things will start moving faster now, and I can't put you in more danger. '

"We're already in danger," Hitoshi seethed, lurching to his feet to tower over them. Akira pushed themself up to stare right back. "You keep talking as if being a hero, even a hero in training, is safe. There's a chance any of us could get injured or die out there on work studies or even in a training accident."

Akira flinched, remembering the far too many "accidents" that befell Wren children. When they remained still, Hitoshi spun on their heel with a scoff and stormed off to his room, slamming the door. Akira continued at Aizawa's quizzical look, ' Kidnapping a Wren wasn't supposed to happen until two years after I got my hero license. If the League shows enough improvement from my analysis in a month, it may happen as soon as winter break. I don't know what the Doctor's plans are, but the sheer numbers they have... I don't know how long they'll wait. '

"In that case, it would be logical to start looking for targets while you refine your analysis," Aizawa said. "Zashi knows more of the theory behind it, and I know more of the practical side. Ask us anything anytime, but I need to check on Toshi."

'Try focusing on just the leaf, ' Akira suggested while watching Shigaraki struggle with his quirk.

He growled as his quirk slipped and destroyed another plant. "How is this even relevant? I don't need to grind 0 xp things anymore. I can wipe the whole boss!"

Akira smiled patiently and explained again. ' For combat, you can cause more pain and demoralize the npc's if you take them apart gradually. You could weaken structures without visible damage by targeting small sections. For support, you can remove infected areas, handcuffs, maybe even things like cancer if it's near the surface. '

Armed with a folder of lesson plans for each member, Akira had support item ideas for some and new uses or applications of their quirk for others. They mainly focused on control with Shigaraki, targeting specific areas and eventually layers instead of destroying the whole. For Spinner, they worked on the noises he could make below the hearing range of most people, as well as exercises to stretch the extra skin running from his shoulders to hips. While possible they wouldn't be significant enough to glide with, Akira wondered if Gecko was similar to Tsu's Frog in combining aspects from multiple species.

Mr. Compress knew his limits well but was startled when Akira pointed out that if his quirk worked through his costume's gloves, it wasn't necessarily limited to his fingers. From there, he worked on retraining his instincts to compress objects and people with other parts of his body instead of relying on his hand. Theoretically, it could work through his prosthetic arm, but he wasn't in the right headspace for that. Mr. Compress was already adjusting to one of the prosthetics they found in the tower, its Tinker signature remarkably similar to the ones circulating the black market.

Dabi had spent the most time training his quirk, so Akira emphasized the importance of being able to cool down with heat-resistant support items. There were some they looted from Deika City, but they needed to be adjusted to withstand higher temperatures and be gentler on his scars. Those would also help with the pain, making his flames easier to control and shape. Magne also had a solid grasp of her quirk and a good support item, so Akira mostly worked with her on how gender-neutral people react to her quirk and on the theory that more genderfluid or multi-gender people might react to it.

Twice was... more complicated. The more time Akira spent with him, the more they started to recognize that the contradictions he voiced mostly happened when he was stressed or had some kind of internal conflict. They seemed less like rapid mood changes and more like separate people. Akira was by no means qualified to help with his trauma, so their sessions primarily focused on interpreting what little sensory input he could get from the clones and figuring out how accurate he needed to be in measurements. Eyeballing measurements started with formless blobs but with practice, he started to get closer approximations of clones.

One day after training, Akira hesitated at the door. ' This isn't training related, at least I don't think, ' they started choppily. ' I... I don't want to intrude, but you know the paper I did earlier this semester? On Forced Quirk Manifestation? '

Twice's expression grew thoughtful through the mask, and he nodded after a moment. "Did you need more sources?"

'What? No, the paper's fine,' Akira flushed, trying to find the right words. 'We've talked about how Strangers have a harder time with our sense of self, right? I... learned about disorders like DID and OSDD to better understand how those can present in some cases but not others, and-' they rushed on, signing in a blur.

Twice held a hand up as his expression morphed into understanding, "Video games."

Their breath left them in a woosh. At least that part was answered. ' And... I've noticed sometimes you're... different? Not in a bad way, just sometimes you'll mention how you like something and then another day you'll hate it or the shifts in stance partway through a conversation. '

He sighed, sitting on the ratty couch and motioning for them to do the same. "Dabi did say you'd come looking for answers at some point. We are a system, although diagnosis would be dangerous and complicated."

Akira nodded along, relieved this hadn't shattered the tenuous acquaintanceship they'd built up. ' Do you want me to continue using 'Twice' or ask who's fronting or do you have a... civilian sign name? '

Twice patiently watched for a bit, only interrupting once they circled back around, "I'm Iroh, zi/him pronouns. Twice is fine if you don't know who's fronting. Some may start introducing themselves as they feel comfortable. You can ask, but it's not always clear even to us. Most of the time, it'll be Jin or Haru, both he/him."

Hitoshi drifted away as Akira spent more time with the League and in planning sessions with Aizawa. He spent more and more time with Bakusquad and Monoma when Akira was with Mad Banquet, even not spending lunch with the group about a week after their fight.

"Did something happen between you and Shinso?" Shoto asked a few days after Hitoshi stopped eating with them.

' He's getting a front-row seat to plans I can't let any of you in on, ' Akira sighed in resignation. 'This was going to happen eventually, but things are moving faster now, so it makes a sick sort of sense that this would start sooner, too. '

Fumikage started to stand, Dark Shadow buzzing and distorting. "I'll speak with them."

Akira caught his arm just long enough to make him pause. ' He's well within their right to step away. All of you are, and I won't blame you when you do. '

Koji frowned as Fumikage's feathers stood on end and Dark Shadow recoiled. "We told you we're going to stick with you, and we meant it," Koji said quietly but with an edge in his voice. "Just because Hitoshi couldn't handle it doesn't mean we can't."

"We are the mad banquet like I told you that night," Fumikage added, a fire in his eyes. "We stand together in the darkness."

Keenly aware of Hitoshi covertly watching from the doorway, Akira shook their head. ' You say that now, but soon it will be much harder to stand by. You can't be associated with me once things start rolling because that will make you targets. '

"We'll find a way," Shoto intoned, and Aoyama nodded firmly.

Akira looked to the latter in surprise. He knew what they were doing, and he still... They shoved down the small voice of hope that maybe they were wrong about this. Hitoshi already proved them right, and they couldn't be disappointed if they expected the worst.

With a month left before final exams, work studies ended so they could have time to study. The League was making progress, but they couldn't be sure it would be enough for the Doctor. With Aizawa's help, they narrowed down their abductees to MC Wren, who could compel everyone in a radius to follow a pre-written script, and Hijack Wren, who could completely control another's actions and quirk but remained incapacitated while doing so. Both could easily have an accident while focused on their quirks, and they were just powerful enough to be displayed. At their young ages of 17 and 18, respectively, they were also unlikely to have started torturing younger family members, so they were at lower risk for suicide if the reversal was successful.

"Today, we're conducting a joint training session with 1-B," Aizawa announced as the class emerged in their gear for heroics. He stood next to Vlad, each with a box in their hands with their respective class letter. "You'll be going head-to-head in teams of four to battle it out. The team to capture four members of the opposing will win, and you'll each draw lots to see which team you're on."

Everyone breathed a small sigh of relief at Katsuki and Midoriya not being on a team for once. Still, Akira groaned as Yaoyorozu pulled out a "3," making the last member of their team with Kirishima and Aoyama. While she had finally started putting on weight and had snack pouches, the rich girl was still a pain in the ass to deal with. Akira even got her for the Secret Santa the class decided on.

' Do you feel comfortable interpreting, or do I need Anii? ' Akira turned to Kirishima.

"I'm struggling a bit, to be honest, keeping up while multitasking," Kirishima chuckled nervously. "It would probably be better to have Anii."

Akira just nodded and motioned her over, explaining the situation as 1-B drew their lots. Aoyama had too much going on in the first term to learn JSL on top of everything else, so he was even newer to the language than Kirishima.

Notes:

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Bello Licentiae Chapter 23: What the Fuck Just Happened

Summary:

"You've been poking around the severed fingers case from what I've heard," Jinx casually leaned against the alley wall.

"Yes, the owner of the fingers is Giran, and we have a vested interest in getting him back on the streets," Mouse replied quietly.

Jinx nodded and took a drag from her cigarette. "Well, it's a good thing I overheard talk of two being dropped at Kamino Ward on Friday."

"Anything on who's behind this?" Mouse asked, shifting slightly closer to Mortis as they tensed.

"No, but they've got major funding. There's also an overlap in runners for the exploding arms. Keep me updated, and I'll do the same."

With a curt nod, the pair slipped back into the dark streets and made their way back to their normal patrol route. No one was at least aware of seeing Joe again, but the overlap of runners was concerning. Maybe it's a support company? But what would they want with the League? No hero groups with Tinkers have dropped off, so either he's being held at their base or it's not heroes.

Akira continued to work on their unconventional rescue method and finally got to focus on their knives in weapons training. They had long since memorized the best places to slice or stab for disabling body parts and dealing maximum pain with minimal damage, so Akira quickly became the example student for the unit. They did get into an argument with Midoriya towards the end of class on Thursday about whether it was better to disable the full arm or just the hands for touch-based quirks. Quick slices to the biceps were far more controllable than slices to the top of the wrist or across the palm but did require more precise placement to avoid bleeding out. And were more likely to be covered by costumes and armor, but an armor-piercing knife would bypass the latter and proper training the former.

' Besides, most villains and heroes don't even use armor in their costumes! ' Akira huffed. ' Exactly four people in this class have some form of armor, and three of us have it because of practical or parental experience .'

"Hey, I am my armor," Kirishima interjected as Akira and Midoriya whipped around on him.

' Not against a sneak attack, ' Akira shot back. After a moment, they corrected, ' Actually, I do remember Bubblegum saying a couple others got armor upgrades, but that wasn't even a month ago. '

Shit. Akira looked at Cypher and double-checked their translation. ' I need to make some calls. ' They stalked off and quickly sent the translation to Boss before calling her.

'The MLA has Giran and wants the League,' Mortis started. 'The location is in Deika City, so we'll need an extraction with medical on the other side.'

"I'll take care of that and inform you once we have details," Boss said curtly and hung up.

Turning into Taishiro's office, Akira set the translation on his desk, barely registering the other two interns in the room. ' I'm going to be on the extraction team. There's no reason for heroes to go there, so I'll be radio silent during the op. '

Taishiro's eyes grew wide as he stared at the translation. "No. If the MLA is active again, that's far too much for you to risk."

' Not a bigger risk than the Wrens, ' Akira threw back. ' I'll most likely be paired with Isao and try talking them out of it first, but my quirk is perfect for this. We get the quirk data on the most strategic people he'll place there, and I can disable the ones who would block our exit. I'm not asking permission. I'm telling you so if something goes wrong you're aware of what happened. '

Akira tensed as Taishiro closed off. He's not going to hurt you. You're fine. Akira repeated in their head, trying not to flinch as his gaze snapped up to theirs. After a long moment, he sighed and nodded. "Alright. You tell us the plan, we workshop the plan, you follow up with us if anything goes wrong and after you get out. If there's any plausible way we can send support with you, we do it."

Mortis warped and started their clone chain, carefully adjusting their timing as they walked with their first clone's first clone up. They took care to match the clone's steps and paused their clones' warping to bow appropriately with Isao. As Haruki anticipated, Kizuki and Hanabata were in the viewing deck with Yotsubashi. Giran was tied to a sturdy chair by the window opposite the elevators while Hanabata sat behind a computer at a desk, and Kizuki casually sipped from a wine glass near Yotsubashi.

"Welcome," Yotsubashi said, "please, sit down. I was told of your arrival, Morita, but I don't recall you mentioning a child."

"This is my son, Ryuu," Isao ruffled the clone's hair. "He's here to see how the business runs."

Mortis made their way to Giran and tapped ' be ready ' in Morse code on his arm. While Isao tried to talk sense into the CEO, Mortis assessed Giran's injuries and identified the weak points in his restraints in case things went as expected. As dark patches grew on Yotsubashi's face, Mortis silently made the cuts and padded over to where Hanabata sat. Kizuki was the second-most dangerous person in the room, but her quirk was difficult to counter without just killing her since Landmine had an at-will activation.

"I will graciously allow you to leave here unscathed, but you will not take Giran," Yotsubashi growled.

Isao stood and bowed, "Then you'll reap what you sowed."

Skeptic screamed as Mortis slashed her biceps and threw their clone at Kizuki while they dashed towards Giran. An explosion ragdolled their clone briefly before it dispelled, giving the leaders pause as Mortis ripped Giran off the chair and out of the restraints. They half-fell into Isao's arms as he burst through the window. Clones rapidly multiplied beneath as Giran let out a startled shout, Mortis abandoning subtlety in favor of creating more than enough cushion. Provided physics worked the same.

Hitting the clones barely felt like anything, their bodies slowing until they rolled to their feet. A small group of stunned onlookers froze as they took off running down the street with Giran in Isao's arms. An alarm blared through the city, drawing people out of their homes and shops as the trio fled. Mortis rapidly set up a perimeter of clones as they switched from the streets to the rooftops. They used the clone to Isao's right to throw up directions to avoid larger groups of Quirked people while still heading towards the rendezvous point.

Mortis rolled to the side and under a sudden blast of cold, whirling around to see someone in a parka and another with serpentine features. Mortis grinned and darted across the roof as the pair argued over their existence. Snake tried to pull Elsa out of the way, so they adjusted their grip for the angle and carved down and away, pulling stuffing out with their knives as they shot out their capture scarf to cut off Snake's call. They quickly threw him to the ground, wrapping extra support around his shoulders to avoid snapping his neck. Hopefully.

Mortis ran towards where their clone lines drew them and warped a few more to replace ones taken out while they were occupied. Isao's shirt hung from his large frame in tatters, but Giran didn't seem to have any additional injuries. Mortis shot out their capture weapon to knock a wind user off course to their surprise only to get hit by a stray laser beam from another's mouth. They rolled with the force right into an electrified net. Gritting their teeth, they pulled themself away with their capture scarf, stumbling back into a run as they regained their footing.

Just ahead, Mortis spotted the pigeon and doubled their clones, sending a few ahead to distract the gathering forces while the others struggled to part the crowd for Isao. Mortis warped down and started slashing, whipping their capture scarf about as they made more room for the trio to continue as they started to feel heavy footfalls from the direction of the tower. Shit shit shit . Bursting into the alley, Mortis barreled straight into the since-landed pigeon with Isao and shuddered as their bones cracked and compressed, wings sprouting from chitinous back as they shifted into a beetle. Their clones continued through the alley as the pigeon scooped up the trio and took off from the noisy streets.

Animorph's beak was dark and moist, and Mortis scuttled up to Isao as they tried to regulate their breathing through the weird holes in their sides. After what felt like an eternity, the three fell out of Animorph's beak and changed back into people, stumbling to their feet as Mortis gulped in air. Giran's Nagoya medical group whisked them into the building, and Mortis let Eraser and Fat Gum know they got out with minor injuries. While they asked for their list of injuries, Mortis snapped up at a low moan from Isao. A number of lacerations and large bruises blossomed across his body as a couple of the staff wheeled him further into the building.

Mortis' electrical burns in cuts from the net were the worst of their injuries, but they still had full range of motion with minimal pain. The medics gave them some of Chiyo's cream to kickstart the healing process while they focused on Isao and Giran. Animorph left once Giran was stable, simply leaving an invoice for the broker. Mortis kept a watchful eye on the rooms, clocking each person who came and went. Eventually, they remembered to take off their dark wig and switch out their contacts.

The next day, Isao was released and Giran would stay for a few more days to monitor potential long-term effects of the torture. Before they left, Giran pledged a favor to each of them. Mortis was still caught up in the amazement as they took the train back to Musutafu, barely registering the scenery as they thought through what they could exchange it for. Probably best to save it for the Plan, Mortis eventually decided on.

Tech week, as Fumikage labeled it, started in full force on Monday, and most of the class' free time was filled with making sure costumes fit, the special effects using Kirishima, Shoto, and Aoyama's quirks worked, and rehearsing. Anii joined their rehearsals starting on Thursday and double-checked the intentions and solos to make sure everything would be conveyed correctly.

Friday night after rehearsal, Akira was making extra snacks when Midoriya mentioned the rope was frayed. With Yaoyorozu sleeping, they texted Aizawa to ask if he could pick up more rope from the hardware store for their performance. At his thumbs up, Akira caught the others' attentions and told them he was taking care of it.

"Oh it's really no trouble, I can just run and get it in the morning," Midoriya rubbed his neck awkwardly.

' He already agreed, you're fine, ' Akira waved him off and headed to their room.

Saturday morning, Akira let themself get caught up in the excited tension in the dorm as everyone rushed to get ready. Mina, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro helped tweak some of their makeup so they wouldn't be washed out by the stage lights and helped others apply makeup. Soon, the class gathered their costumes and made their way to the festival, splitting up with the direction to be in the green room by 09:30. Akira and Midoriya both had the idea to get a candy apple for Eri, deciding to split the cost when they realized Aizawa probably wouldn't appreciate his youngest going through a sugar high.

Soon, they found Eri with Aizawa and Togata at a carnival game set up by one of the Gen Ed classes. Eri stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tried to hit moving painted targets with a row of balls. Aizawa's lips upturned slightly in amusement, but as his eyes flicked over, they grew into a soft smile.

When Eri won a small cat plush, Aizawa directed her attention to the newcomers. "Eri, look at what Midoriya and Reaper brought."

Her eyes lit up as she took in the students and looked up for permission before dashing over to Akira. "Look! I got McStuffins!" she held up the plush for inspection.

' They're very cute, congrats! ' Akira smiled warmly and patted her head.

"That's great, Eri!" Midoriya cooed. "You like apples, right? Well, this one is extra sweet since someone poured sugar all over it. Do you want to try?"

Eri shyly nodded, tucking the plush under one arm as she took in the big apple. She cautiously took a bite then eagerly kept going, eyes wide.

"I think she likes it," Togata piped up, grinning brightly. "Your class is performing at ten, right? Eri, are you excited to see Midoriya and Reaper dance?"

Eri nodded rapidly, drawing a chuckle out of Aizawa. Shifting the stick to one hand, she started to sign happy but pouted. "How do your hands say... excited?"

Akira chuckled and showed her as Midoriya and Togata cooed again. Glancing at their watch, though, they added, ' We need to go meet up with our class to change and do one more sound check. Give a big wave so we can see you in the audience, okay? '

As they made their way back, Akira startled at several Ectoplasm clones going into the forest. Looking around, they couldn't see Inui, and the teachers boosting security seemed tense.

"Is something wrong?" Midoriya whispered as static raised the hair on the back of their neck.

Akira nodded slowly, lightly nudging him to keep moving. ' Something's going down in the forest. Perimeter breach maybe? ' Their suspicions only solidified when Snipe broke off with a thin excuse to his students.

"Do you think it's the League?" Midoriya asked in a harsh whisper.

' No, Wildfire would've called the moment they had cell service. ' At Midoriya's hesitation, Akira insisted, ' I know he would've at least sent something after the voicemails I left. '

He seemed a little surer after that, but there was still the underlying question. Then who? They quickly got changed in the green room, but the rest of the class immediately picked up on the tension. After explaining what they saw, the only thing left to do was hope the situation was resolved before it could shut down the festival.

As the minutes ticked by, they completed their final sound check and, a few minutes before they were to go on, there was still no word of the festival being canceled. A ring startled Akira as they whipped out their phone, immediately accepting as they moved to a far corner.

Finally! They gaped at Dabi's haggard, smoking appearance. ' What happened? Are you alright? '

"Giran's missing," Dabi huffed. "The MLA said they had him, but now he's gone."

Akira shook their head in disbelief. ' We got him out a week ago. Why didn't you check your messages? And what happened ? '

Dabi cursed and poured a water bottle over himself before relaying the message off camera. "We've been a little busy. Long story short, the Doctor said he'll work with you now, so I'll try to give you a heads up before he warps you."

Akira nodded but got a peek of the destruction behind him. ' That's great! But what state is the city in right now? '

"Gigantomachia flattened it."

Akira stared at Dabi. What the fuck?

"Oh, and most of the people are dead. They were all combatants."

' I'm sorry, maybe I didn't hear you right, ' Akira signed slowly in shock. ' Did you just wipe out a city? '

"It was a small city," Dabi shrugged.

They're not gonna be happy about that , Akira mused as Jiro called out it was time. ' I've gotta go. I'll call you after the festival. '

Akira hurried to the front of line to get on stage with the other dancers, taking their place at the end on stage left next to Shoji. Soon, a hush fell over the crowd as the house lights dimmed. Katsuki raised his drumsticks and called out, "Let's do this shit! We're gonna murder all U.A. students with music!"

With an explosion, the drum lead started, and the performance was on. Akira focused on the music cues while their eyes watered from the bright lights. The jumps were the harder part of the choreography with their crutches, but the cheers rising from the audience kindled the thrill of performing. As Midoriya launched Aoyama up, the burst of lasers caught the ice particles in the audience, sparkling and catching everyone's attention. Ojiro caught Aoyama, posing before the latter and Midoriya ran in time to the music towards the rafters while Koji released doves to add more movement. Streamers flew from Yaoyorozu, and ribbons of ice curved above the audience. Soon, Midoriya dragged Aoyama and Tsu pulled Uraraka about to float a number of audience members among the sparkling ice.

As the final chord landed, everyone posed, breath heaving. The crowd roared, and after bows, the class made their way backstage. Akira easily urged Kaminari and Hitoshi to catch the end of 1-B's performance while the rest of them finished cleaning up, Mad Banquet lightly teasing them and giving knowing looks. Kirishima narrowed his eyes slightly at the mention of Kaminari and Hitoshi talking with Monoma afterward but was dragged by Katsuki for a change to a chunk of ice to break up. Akira mostly used their capture scarf to handle the ice so their joints wouldn't get as stiff.

Eri ran over to Midoriya and Akira with a big grin on her face to their delight. She babbled on about the performance, the pair exchanging smiles with Togata and Aizawa as they hurried to catch up. A few Gen Ed students admitted to watching their performance just to critique it but ended up enjoying it with the others.

The class finished clearing the ice just in time to grab a spot relatively close to the stage. The crowds pressed in on all sides, but Fumikage and Dark Shadow kept a small radius around them clear. Akira quickly resigned themself to only see if the students floated, but Aizawa turned to them. "You could get a better view from my shoulders," he gruffly offered. "Eri's already on Mirio."

After only a moment of hesitation, Akira nodded and climbed on. There was a precarious moment when they swayed slightly, but they grasped Aizawa's capture scarf as he lightly secured their legs. Over the crowds, Akira watched Kendo chop through some blocks in a pretty dress, although they weren't sure what that was supposed to showcase. They were even more confused by Kenranzaki's bizarre display of a golden caricature. When Hado emerged in a fluffy, fairy-like dress, Akira perked up.

As Hado painted the sky in beautiful golden swirls, Akira marveled at the creative use for such a destructive quirk. The resulting rose that glistened in the sunlight hung suspended in the air for a moment before slowly dissipating as Hado landed. There were five other contestants, but none of them were as flashy or bizarre.

Now that Eri found her smile, it almost seemed like she never wanted to stop. They picked up some hero-branded crafts, made crepes together, and even took a few pictures in the cutouts. Mad Banquet was eager to show Akira some of the less elementary school-friendly activities of school festivals, so they broke off from the Yamazawas, Midoriya, and Togata towards the middle of the festival. The haunted house 1-C put on was interesting, although Akira shuddered at the reminder of the summer camp. They nearly stabbed one of the students who was invisible, narrowly redirecting the blade as they realized it was a student.

"Why do you even have a knife on you?" Koji squeaked as they left.

' It's important to be prepared, ' Akira explained. ' I always have knives on me. '

"Knives plural ? How many do you have?" Aoyama looked more interested than reproachful.

' Depends on the situation? Right now, just three, ' Akira shrugged. After a moment, they corrected, ' Well, four if you count my backup boot knife. But that's tiny. '

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage shook his head as Dark Shadow chortled from inside his sleeve.

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 22: Salebrations

Summary:

tw: torture, kidnapping, body parts, suicide mentions

'text' JSL Text thoughts

' Happy Birthday, ' Akira signed after setting the caramel apple cake on the table. Sato helped them with the recipe since he was more experienced with baking than cooking.

As they chatted over the small gifts the others had gotten him, a look of realization crossed Fumikage's face. "When are your birthdays, Hitoshi and Akira?"

Akira winced and glanced to Hitoshi, who casually said, "I don't like to celebrate mine, but it's July 1st."

' October 10th and same, ' Akira followed up.

Koda gasped and looked between them, "You didn't tell anyone? We could always have a late celebration."

"We're saying no," Hitoshi drawled, his voice taking on an edge.

Fumikage's feathers ruffled but he nodded, "It would do little to celebrate an event they don't wish to celebrate."

After the small party, the group headed to the Samhain celebration. Fumikage warned them ahead of time they didn't need to contribute anything to the ancestor table if they didn't want to, which Akira was grateful for. The last thing they wanted to do was draw the attention of the very ancestors responsible for the Wren empire. Many elements of the ritual were similar to what was said during Mabon, but the energy felt different.

The next day, Akira went to the faculty costume party with the Yamazawas. They were dressed in their hero costume minus the tassels to go as Eraser Head. Aizawa and Hitoshi wore some low-effort cat costumes, Eri dressed as Moana, and Yamada... Akira wasn't sure what he dressed as until he explained.

"There's an old musical called Phantom of the Opera, and this is what the phantom looks like," he grinned. "It's even one of the few musicals with a sequel."

At the party, Akira spotted Katsuki in an All Might costume near Thirteen. They'd seen the space hero a couple times out of costume in the teachers' lounge, and that night their hair was even more sparkly as they seemed to be dressed as space itself. A glance at Aizawa confirmed he was expecting Katsuki. Oh. Akira relaxed slightly as they realized this is what the Bakugo's being handled meant.

Mortis tapped their coms as the dealers arrived. They deftly slunk along the rafters, watching for any protection they might bring. A clone in the bugout location kept their invisibility up, but Mortis was keenly aware of the creaks and odd sounds rafters could make. After a few minutes with no new shapes joining them, they shifted to analyze what quirks they could make out.

Increased paranoia when closer to Moon Mask. No visible ranged weapons and no gloves. Probably some kind of Blaster. Average civilian, no threat. One of Spore Charge's lackeys, the one with shocking roses . Mortis jotted down the details as the new weapons were exchanged and slipped out the window. They shot a tracker onto the case before doubling back to follow the dealers. Mortis briefly wondered at the civilian with them but easily dismissed the thought. Why wouldn't they be here?

Mortis dropped back a few streets as they started taking circuitous routes, keeping an eye out for where they looked to avoid scrutiny. Before going outside their clone's range, Mortis ducked next to an access hutch, melding into the shadows as they dropped the clone. Moments later, they continued their tail, clocking their hideout and watching for a few minutes to make sure they stayed before making their way back.

As they typed up their report, Akira stared at the screen. They waved over Mouse and asked, ' Have you heard of a quirk like this? Definitely reads as Stranger. '

"Shit, kid, are you okay?" Mouse looked over them with wide eyes. "That's Joe, one of the urban legends around here. No one knows who he is, and it's almost impossible to stick him with anything. He's always perceived as just your average person who isn't a threat."

Akira nodded slowly, mulling over the idea. ' Does it work when perceived through video? '

"Recording technology malfunctions around him, so we're not sure," Mouse shook faer head. "If he's involved, we need pairs for this. I'll make sure I'm on night shift with you when I can be."

Before logging off, Akira saw the email finally come through from police forensics. They didn't find any matches, so they sent the prints off to their in-house department to check over the weekend. With any luck, they would match even a set of unidentified prints on another case. That would at least give some idea of the victim's status.

On Sunday, as they were about to leave the Yamazawas, Akira saw a call from the Fat Gum Agency. They immediately picked up and signed ' work study ' while heading to their room.

"Hi, is this Umbra Mortis?" one of the techs asked. Their mind raced with possibilities as they confirmed. "This is about the fingerprints you sent over on Friday. They only have one match right now, and it's from the League of Villain's former hideout in Kamino Ward."

Akira froze and snapped their Mortis mask into place as they distantly thanked the tech and asked them to tag it to Giran's case number before hanging up. They immediately called Haru to share the news and tried Dabi a couple more times before sitting on their bed. He's alive. You know he was alive when they took the finger. If they were going to kill him, they wouldn't be sending pieces. You still have time .

"Mori?" Aizawa knocked on the partially open door. "Is everything alright?"

Mortis shook their head and haltingly signed, ' Broker's alive. The severed finger at the Shie Hassaiki compound was his. It's gotta be a message. I need to start narrowing down- '

Aizawa gently took their hands as he crouched in front of them. "We'll figure it out. For now, can you breathe for me?"

Mortis took an unsteady breath as they realized they had forgotten to breathe. Their mask cracked briefly before they reset. You can take the moment when this is over.

"Make sure you decompress," Aizawa reminded them, concern furrowing his brow. "Zashi and I are on room check duty this week."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvb ' It looks like the first part of a message, ' Akira explained as they presented their findings so far to Taishiro, Amajiki, and Kirishima. ' Giran's finger was wrapped in this, and I'm working with Cypher on decrypting it. '

"Do we have any theories on why he was taken or by whom?" Taishiro asked while looking over a copy of the message.

'Once another finger is dropped, we should have a better idea, but for now we could only guess,' Akira clarified. 'There might be Yakuza ties with the drop location, but that could have a number of meanings.'

"Couldn't it just be a rival?" Kirishima asked, half-raising his hand.

Akira shook their head but Taishiro responded instead, "Giran's too important to the underworld, kid. He hasn't had a rival in over a year. They always go missing and are never seen or heard from again."

' He recruits them, ' Akira corrected and fought back a flinch when Taishiro snapped his attention to them. ' There have only been three threats to his power since he became the Broker, and all three were quickly brought into his network. If someone was that bold, they would be taking advantage of the chaos instead of letting it fester. '

Friday evening, another finger was dropped near one of the Hosu City stops on the Chuo Expressway. The encapsulating note followed the same encryption method but seemed disjointed from the first. Jinx dropped off a mostly in-tact weapon at the agency through a runner, and there were a few partial Tinker signatures. Nothing identifiable, but they could potentially be matched with a side-by-side comparison.

What seemed like the second finger was found on Sunday in the alley Stain was apprehended. Akira cursed and called Taishiro to double-check the exact locations of the expressway finger. ' They're targeting the League, ' Akira paced up and down their room. ' That would eliminate most of the underworld since they have AFO's backing and Blue Fang backed off. The rogue heroes or heroes who don't care about pr theories are starting to make more sense, but why now? '

"I'll see if Jinx can pick up anything from her contacts and reach out to Sir Nighteye since he has a bit more context on the League case," Taishiro offered as he typed away. His expression softened as he paused and looked at them. "How are you holding up?"

' Stressed but glad we finally got something, ' Akira replied before shaking out some of their excess energy. ' We should start watching other places the League has made a splash. That's probably where the next finger will be. '

He nodded, but his brow furrowed a moment before a look of understanding passed over his face. "I take it you haven't seen the news today? Looks like a suicide pact made its rounds again."

Akira froze, memories flashing of Quirkless younger than them on buildings with shoes to the side. ' Quirkless? ' At his nod, they sighed and sat on their bed. ' Probably why Eraser was keeping us off the news today then. I need to check in with some people. '

Akira barely acknowledged Taishiro's goodbye before they hurriedly messaged Haru. He knew a couple of the kids, and Blue Fang was keeping a close eye on their Quirkless members for the time being. Midoriya and Aoyama were hanging out with Dekusquad, and Akira almost put away their phone but hesitated. After a moment, they opened their chat with Anka.

snowflake : hey, I just saw the news. Anyone you know?

whysosirius : no u?

snowflake : no, you safe?

whysosirius : yeah, we've got a vigil tonight

for them and us

snowflake : good, I'll be back at the dorms tonight

Akira walked back out to the living room and, after giving Eri a head pat and praising her drawing, went to the office. They knocked on the open door as Aizawa and Yamada looked up.

"Do you need something, little listener?" Yamada asked, bright smile faltering slightly.

' I appreciate the sentiment of keeping the news off today, ' Akira started, looking away at their winces. ' But when shit like this happens, there are a number of people I need to check in with. You're going to find a lot more Quirkless kids on rooftops this week, and checking in is huge. '

"Alright, it's not something we want Eri to see, so we'll let you know going forward," Aizawa said quietly.

Yamada looked less certain but hesitantly nodded. "You haven't been in the best headspace, though, which was part of our decision."

' Like I said, I understand why, but no one in our community is in a good headspace right now, ' Akira clarified, sighing as they tried to find the right words. ' Keeping an eye on each other and checking in when we can helps more than you could know in reducing the domino effect. '

On Monday, Akira was still feeling the slump that always came with Quirkless suicides. They stopped looking at the news when possible, knowing the propaganda and coddling the stations would be bouncing between like a ping pong ball. In Heroics, an idea struck them as they looked over the tall pillar structures. Akira pulled out their notebook and started some calculations for velocity, how much force their clones could take, and how much cushion would prevent death from various heights.

Ectoplasm came over after a few minutes and looked over their notebook curiously. "What are you trying to calculate? Perhaps I can be of assistance."

Akira paused before finishing the step. ' Yesterday's suicides got me thinking. Theoretically, I could use my clones to cushion someone's fall, but they can only take so much force, so I would probably need more than the 8 meters of soft tissue necessary to cushion a fall at terminal velocity. '

Ectoplasm looked over their calculations for a moment before nodding, "It looks accurate thus far. How do you plan on testing it?"

' Haven't gotten that far yet, ' Akira signed distractedly as they refocused on the work. Once they had preliminary number sets, they asked Cementoss to raise the building to the first 9 stories. Aizawa immediately stopped mid-conversation with All Might and strode over.

"What're you trying to do?" he asked. As Akira explained, Aizawa relaxed marginally and eventually nodded his assent. Wariness still simmered in his eyes, though.

Maybe don't test it yourself today then , Akira mused. They mostly focused on how to best layer their clones and quickly build up a barrier without compromising the density. By the end of the day, they had a baseline for how to structure their pile of clones and tested it with an Ectoplasm clone since they had enough durability. Akira made a few more notes on the layering before class let out and they walked back to the dorms with Mad Banquet. They kept an eye on Midoriya and Aoyama, each wearing a matching white chord around a wrist, but the others seemed to sense the change in the air and clung closer than usual.

Akira raised a brow as they got off the elevator and were promptly herded into Koji's room. ' Is something wrong? ' they asked.

Koji handed them Kerfluffle, who they took in mild confusion. "Not with us, but you're pulling away again," Koji softly responded. "Is an important date coming up again? Or is there anything we can do?"

' The person who helped me disappear was abducted, ' Akira said, worrying their lip as they realized they had been isolating even after getting help from their network. ' Sorry, things have been really stressful trying to figure out if he was abducted then who abducted him, and we just got confirmation why he was abducted, but we still don't know who ...'

Akira stiffened then relaxed into Fumikage's hug, setting Kerfluffle to the side so he wouldn't be squished as the others joined. After a few seconds, they started to feel constricted and drew back a little, the other immediately withdrawing and checking in visually. Akira took a steadying breath and shook their head, ' There's nothing you can do right now, and I might be away more soon because of the League. Remember, if a Legacy Holder Wren approaches you, don't let them touch you. '

With knowing looks, the group ended up having a sleepover, bringing blankets and snacks from their rooms and the kitchen into Koji's room to play Mario Kart. It took Akira and Shoto a few rounds to get a handle on the controls, but soon they were drifting and getting caught up in the thrill of landing shells. As the evening wound down, they put on Howl's Moving Castle.

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 21: Dance Revolution

Summary:

"Hey Mori," Jiro started, twirling an ear jack as she crossed the common area. "I saw you put dancing and keys. Momo has us covered for keys since she's classically trained, but I was wondering how you dancing would work."

Akira made the last couple strokes copying over History notes before looking up. ' I also received classical training, but she probably got more. I would most likely be using my crutches, and I've gotten pretty comfortable with combat footwork in those. ' They pulled up one of the videos they'd found on the train rides to and from Hosu where a choreographer was demonstrating how to adapt popular moves for use with forearm crutches.

"That should work," Jiro watched curiously. "Can you forward that to Mina? She'll be doing the choreography."

' Of course, I've got a playlist I can send her. Have we picked a song yet? ' Akira asked before sending the link. ' If no one from our class is interpreting, Anii should be able to do it. She'll just need to meet with us a couple times beforehand to rehearse. '

"'Hero Too' by Yuki Hayashi and Ayapeta," Jiro paused her earjack twirling for a moment in thought. "Do you think we need an interpreter? Koda suggested it, but I don't remember seeing one at a concert before."

' From what I saw on HeroTube, deaf or hard of hearing people can request interpreters, and the interpretations are more about capturing the spirit and beats of the song instead of direct translation, ' Akira clarified.

"I think this is the longest and most civil conversation we've had," Jiro huffed as she took a chair across from them and started pulling out her own notes.

Akira raised an eyebrow and shrugged. ' Yeah, cause you were acting like a jerk for most of the first term. I'm glad you worked whatever that was out. '

Jiro stiffened but huffed an agreement before settling into her work. They studied together for a couple hours before Akira moved to their room for privacy. It still felt weird being alone with someone they weren't close to, and Jiro's periodic humming clashed with the music in their head.

That weekend, Akira stayed in the dorms for dance practice with Mina and the dance crew. Midoriya and Ida especially struggled at first to get the hang of rhythm, but they gradually eased into it. Akira also did a couple sessions with just Mina to make sure they could have a clone do the routine if they were wheelchair-bound that day.

"We could have a separate routine for if you need your wheelchair," Mina offered while they took a water break.

Akira shook their head, ' If we had more time, that would be great, but with midterms coming up, I don't think it's going to be practical. '

"So, your roommate..." Mina prodded with a glint in her eye. "What's his deal?"

Akira rolled their eyes and pushed off the wall. ' How so? '

"You've been sitting on the biggest gossip this whole time!" Mina pouted, drawing a chuckle out of them. "What's he like? Why do they keep attacking us? Did he join willingly? Is he single?"

Akira grew more exasperated with each question until they just gave her a flat look. ' He's gay. He's... kind of like a German Shepherd? Protective and mean to strangers but soft in his own way with people he knows. And it's complicated. Can we get back to practicing? '

"Oh! Like an older brother."

Mina started back into the routine, leaving Akira a little stunned. Oh .

The next week flew by between festival preparations, a new wave of self-destructing weapons popping up on the black market, and midterm prep. Exams were still a few weeks away, but this time Akira organized the same study group to help make sure they were ready. When Saturday rolled around, Aizawa brought Eri to school so she could see more of the campus when there were fewer people to overwhelm her.

Akira, Togata, and Midoriya eagerly led her about, showing her the rest of the main building while Akira kept an eye out for any signs of discomfort in the little girl. A few of the business courses handed out fliers for seminars and joint presentations with support course students, although Akira frowned slightly at Mei not being on any of them.

' Have you spoken with Hatsume? She's planning on going independent last I heard, ' Akira asked a student from 1-E.

He blanched, "Oh no one messes with her! She's got all these half-formed ideas that explode all the time. It's a good thing she was already planning on starting her own company. No one wants to be dragged down with her."

"I-I'm sure she-" Midoriya stuttered, smile falling as he hesitantly looked to Akira and Togata.

' Oh hell no, ' Akira glared at him while Togata interpreted. ' I have personally worked with Bubblegum on multiple occasions, and I'm telling you now she will make it big one day. Those half-formed ideas are the start of some of her best items, and they explode so often because they're innovative! ' They drew themself up to their full 140 cm and stalked closer to the agape student as he backed up. ' If I ever hear you or anyone else for that matter disparage her, I will personally make sure you never hear the end of it. Do I make myself clear? '

"Crystal," he gulped and sprinted away.

Akira took a calming breath and reset their posture before turning and checking on Eri. Her eyes were wide with curiosity and a little bit of fear, so Akira crouched despite their protesting knees. ' Hey Eri, how are you feeling? '

Eri scrunched her brow for a moment before signing, ' Good. ' At Akira's smile, she continued. "You're not usually mad."

Understanding flitted across Midoriya's face, and Akira nodded. ' I don't like when people say mean things about people I care about. That includes you, ' they slowly reached out to give her a head pat, which she leaned into. Akira stood up, knees popping and crackling in protest as they continued on.

At the festival grounds, Monoma and Tetsutetsu popped up with a silver dragon head. Akira bit back a smile at the reminder of Hitoshi and asked, ' What is 1-B doing for the festival? That looks neat. '

Monoma launched into an albeit boastful explanation of the ambitious play they were putting on as Awase approached, keeping an eye on him. Akira leaned towards Eri conspiratorially and signed with Togata quietly interpreting, ' Copycat gets really competitive with our class. It sounds like they're taking inspiration from some pre-quirk movies, which'll be interesting. '

Eri giggled, and Midoriya asked, "Where's Kendo? Isn't she usually with you, Monoma?"

Awase shrugged apologetically, "She got entered into the beauty pageant by Reiko, so they're figuring that out."

"Nejire's also entering that, shall we see what they're up to?" Togata asked with a twinkle in his eye. "I bet her costume is going to be really pretty this year."

As they slipped into one of the equipment room, Akira cocked their head at the odd pose Hado took in the air supported by one of her waves. "Hey, why is Eri here? How fun!" she asked cheerfully when she noticed the group.

As the others talked about the contestants and last year's champion, Akira wandered over to the clothing racks. They were filled with a variety of gowns and shorter pieces of a pretty wide variety of themes and sizes. Noticing the lack of masculine options, they turned to Amajiki, ' Is this a fem-presenting only event? '

"Eh, I guess we haven't had anyone want to participate who wasn't?" Yuyu responded when Amajiki looked lost. "Beauty pageants are more of a traditionally girl thing to do."

Akira shrugged, signing a loose ' thanks ' as they made their way back to the group. They noticed with some amusement that Eri seemed enraptured by Nejire and the assortment of pretty items. With a smile, Akira snapped a picture and sent it to Yamada, including a few of the details she seemed most taken with. In moments, they got a chaotic string of emojis to decode later as they headed to the last group, the support course showcase. ' This is where Bubblegum studies, ' Akira explained to Eri on the way.

"This is something that makes a splash every year!" Midoriya said excitedly as Togata covered his ears against the grinding and general workshop noises. Akira offered a pair of earplugs to Eri, but she was similarly taken with the busy room.

Akira grinned and gently maneuvered Eri to the side as Hatsume rounded Midoriya from behind. "That's right! The school festival is the support course's time to shine!"

Akira marveled at the much-improved robotic suit Hatsume had been working on as she continued. "This time, we've been given the spotlight! It's so I can get even bigger companies to look at my babies even more carefully!"

' Did you fix the... ' Akira paused as the suit started smoking. They winced and guided Eri back a bit, snapping their capture scarf out to grab the dome that shot off the top. Akira let the momentum carry for a moment before guiding it back to the floor a safe distance away. ' Good luck, Bubblegum! '

While grabbing a late lunch, Togata asked how Eri was feeling. She seemed thoughtful for a moment before signing ' happy ' and adding, "There are a lot of different people working hard, so I wonder how it'll turn out..."

"That's what people call 'getting excited,'" Nezu clarified from a few chairs over with Kayama. "I'm also excited about the school festival!"

Kayama added as they got up that if the alarm sounds, even a false alarm, they would have to cancel and evacuate. There would be significant extra security, especially in the wooded area around campus, to avoid that at least. Akira slid a look at Midoriya, knowing his tendencies, but everything was set up to be quiet for the time being.

On Monday, Akira was waiting for Mad Banquet outside the cafeteria when they saw a call from Haru. They quickly shot off a text as they answered saying they had to take a call. ' Is everything alright? '

"I'm sorry to do this, but have you seen or heard from Giran lately?" he asked, worry creasing his brow.

Akira shook their head as they thought back. ' No, and the League wouldn't have either. They're off-grid for the time being. '

"Shit." Haru called out their response to whoever else was in the room.

Anxiety spiking, Akira asked, ' What's going on? '

"He's been dark for over a week," Haru explained. "It was a week on Friday, but we didn't want to worry you if someone else had heard from him. We've already checked with his underlings. I know you can't do much from there, but..."

' I can always try ,' Akira replied, cycling through options. ' Probably best not to involve Eraser, right? '

Haru hesitated, glancing to the side before nodding. "Giran's a big step up from what he currently knows of your involvement in the underworld. Keep it in-house if you can, but don't actively hide it."

With a sharp nod, Akira hung up and headed back to the classroom to meet with their group since the weather was turning colder. They started searching for what they could on the internet, but there wasn't much to go off of yet. Akira waved off the others' concern when they stiffly walked in, not bothering with an excuse since Fumikage looked ready to call them out as it was.

For the next week, Akira stayed up most of the night, only getting two hours of sleep or three if they passed out while searching. Intelligence networks were shifting, and the media started to catch on that a major change happened in the underworld. No one had connected the dots yet, and Akira tried and failed daily to get in touch with Dabi.

"Is something going on?" Taishiro asked after quietly taking Akira aside on Tuesday before their shift. "You were off yesterday and look even worse today."

' I'm fine, just dealing with internal issues right now, ' Akira responded, plastering a small fake smile on their face. ' It might be nothing. '

Taishiro grew even more worried but nodded, "I'll hold you to it, kiddo. Just come to me when you're ready, okay?"

By Thursday, Akira was starting to fall asleep in class, only Dark Shadow keeping them from nodding off while their focus kept splitting between the lectures and Giran. Did the Wrens finally get a hold of him? They could be torturing him because of me . What if they out Dabi? Everything could ...

"Akira!"

Akira jerked back into focus as they saw an empty classroom aside from them and Aizawa. "You're benched for Heroics today," he frowned as they struggled to focus on him. "I don't know what's going on, but Shiro confirmed something was off on Tuesday, and you've only been getting worse."

' But- ' Akira protested, swaying slightly as they stood. Aizawa gently steadied them by their arm, drawing a sharp flinch and fresh wave of guilt. He patiently watched with now open concern. Taking stock of their state, Akira huffed and pressed their mouth into a thin line. ' Fine. ' They looked pointedly at their arm, and Aizawa let go after a moment.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" he eventually asked.

Akira sighed in exasperation, running a hand over their face. ' Someone very important to my group is missing. He's been dark for too long, and no one's been able to reach him. '

Aizawa's eyebrows crinkled as he surveyed them. "Why didn't you say something earlier? I can look at arrest records, at least rule that out."

' We already have, ' Akira waved him off. ' Giran would be too big a catch to keep quiet. '

Aizawa sucked in a breath. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, that answers the why. Undergrounds have noticed his absence, but we thought he was in a different area and his underlings got complacent. If he's missing , we can start looking elsewhere and help ease the fallout.

"In the meantime," he gave them a pointed look, "go back to your dorm and get some rest. Don't keep looking right now." Aizawa's gaze softened as Akira leaned against the desk, head swimming as they sipped on a jelly pouch. "Let me take the next steps, and I'll let you know what we find."

Akira reluctantly limped back to the dorms, barely remembering to let Haru know Aizawa and the undergrounds were now involved before crashing.

Around three, Akira jolted awake and groaned, waiting for the pain from the nightmare to abate. As the agonizing seconds passed, they realized it wasn't just from the nightmare. Pushing through the pain, they grabbed the pill bottle and shook out a couple to take with a jelly pouch. Hopefully that'll take some of the edge off . Akira grimaced at the burning the pills caused in their stomach, but at least sometimes they helped. They tried to go back to sleep after that, but the pain kept them awake. After a while, they turned on their chronic flare HeroTube playlist, a mix of podcasts and music they could zone in and out of without missing much.

Some hours later, Hitoshi checked in on them and mentioned he'd tell Aizawa they couldn't come to class. Dark Shadow burst in not long after with a heating pad, more blankets, and chocolate. Akira thanked them, although they weren't sure they could stomach anything that rich for a bit. Around noon, they dragged themself onto their wheelchair with a blanket and made their way downstairs using the touchpad instead of wheels to turn.

After putting the ingredients in the blender, Akira pulled the blanket a little tighter and started grounding themself as they turned the blender on. They quickly backed up their wheelchair, but their vision grew staticky as the noise blended with Sonic's pulsing, grating quirk. In two three four , Akira tried to focus, barely registering the difference in material of the wheelchair and soft blanket and the metal resonance chamber Sonic used.

By the time they were fully back in the present, the blender was long finished. Akira tiredly transferred the mix to their oversized tumbler and trudged back to their room, very much ready for the day to be over.

"Are you okay, Reaper?"

Akira smiled tiredly over to Eri where she had stopped coloring. They bookmarked the open investigations report and closed their laptop to turn to her. ' Just worried about someone I know. It's not someone you know, so please don't worry about it. '

Eri scrunched up her brow at that, "But I'm worried about you?"

Akira winced, knowing their eyebags were still pretty prominent. ' Leave the worrying to people older than you, okay? Kids shouldn't have to be worried about this stuff. ' After a moment, they added, ' I'm sorry I placed some of that emotional burden on you. '

After they explained a couple words, Eri lit up and slid off her chair. She ran down the hallway towards Aizawa and Yamada's bedroom as Akira watched in confusion. Did I say something wrong? Akira couldn't hear any crying, but then again, Eri would have learned to cry silently. They started to get up only to hear the soft patter of footsteps next to Yamada's longer strides.

"Sweetie, are you sure you want me? They usually prefer Shou for-"

"No!" Eri stomped her foot to Akira's amusement. "Daddy says you're oldest, so he would just go to you. Is anyone older than you?"

Akira stifled a snort as an affronted Yamada rounded the corner with Eri in tow. A blush spread across their cheeks as they realized why Eri had grabbed him, and they awkwardly waved. ' Sorry, I didn't realize she was going to get you. '

"You said kids shouldn't worry about this. Daddy says you're a kid. So logically, you need the oldest person!" Eri looked proud of herself, one small hand fisted on her hip.

' Ah, logic, my only weakness, ' Akira dramatically melted onto the table, leaving their head up just enough to make out color blobs. As the purple blob moved around the table into their periphery, Akira shifted to look at Yamada crouched a comfortable distance away.

"Hey, Shou told me a little of what's going on. You wanna talk about it, little listener?" he gently asked.

' Not much to talk about, ' Akira sat up enough to sign after they made sure Eri wasn't in line of sight. ' There's nothing. '

Yamada hummed, quirk activating slightly as the pitch dropped into what felt like a cat purr. Akira tensed but slowly relaxed as they watched the hero sit next to them. "Shou's really good at finding people, you know. Nezu, too."

Akira thinned their mouth and looked away briefly. ' This is different. If a rival did manage to rise up, they would've been disposed of by now. No one who's been in the underworld for any period of time would touch him. None of this makes sense! '

"Hey, you've got a lot going on," Yamada interrupted their thoughts as their head snapped up to briefly meet his gaze. They quickly looked away but not before seeing the open concern. "Shou and I are here for you if you want to vent or need some space, okay? If there's anything we can do from helping look to bouncing around ideas to making food, just let us know."

Akira hesitated, the request seeming silly in the moment. At his encouraging smile, they asked, ' Can we have yaki-udon tonight? ' Akira asked after a moment. Yamada brightened and started checking for ingredients, soon sending Aizawa out with a list. Eri even roped Akira into helping with the preparation. As guilty as they felt for not spending the time looking for Giran, Akira felt a little less wrung out when they started the search again after dinner.

On Monday, Taishiro confined them to desk duty, which they spent continuing the search when not putting calls through and exploring the system. A new set of fingerprints did show up in a country-wide search for the owner of a severed finger, so Akira sent that off to forensics. A few minutes later, they clicked back to the request and double-checked the found location. Maybe some kind of yakuza statement? They mused and put a note in the file to cross-check the prints with their own database if the police didn't turn up anything.

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 20: Curiosities

Summary:

The next day, Mad Banquet set out for Curio, a shop nestled in the midst of cafés and boutiques that comprised the historic district of Musutafu. Inside hung a variety of artworks and handmade knickknacks, and deeper in the shop lay crystals, stones, and a variety of paraphernalia for Christianity, Shinto, Buddhism, and what Akira assumed was Pagan. Out back, a small group of people dressed in autumnal colors stood around a cookout and drank what almost looked like honey.

"Excellent, you've arrived," Fumikage made his way over as Dark Shadow emerged to say hi to the group. He led them to where covered dishes spread across one of the tables and a few of the older ladies sat.

"Ah, are these your friends? Pleasure to meet you," an elderly woman wearing a flowing dress with drooping sleeves smiled at them. "My name's Den Ban, she/her. I lead our little group for celebrations. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me or any of our members."

The group bowed in respect, and Fumikage introduced them to the other members of the community. Most seemed to follow different paths, although one of his moms also practiced death work. Some followed non-pagan religions in addition to their path, and others worked with deities from a few cultures. Overall, it was a pretty casual affair centered around celebrating the turning of the year, community, and the harvest. They were invited back for the group's Samhain ritual that was scheduled for October 30th so people could still go to costume parties.

"It still hasn't disappeared?" Yamada asked as the pair paused for water.

Akira tapped their crutch twice and rested both against one of the tables on the tea room's patio. The only changes they'd picked up on so far with Midoriya was that the clones took more energy to maintain the further away they were and didn't last as long. Eri had a doctor's appointment, so Yamada volunteered to be their escort off campus.

Since there wasn't much Akira could do to respond without text messages, Yamada shared stories of mostly the rooftop squad in his days at U.A. Akira snorted at the idea of Aizawa thinking he was terrible with kids, and it was fascinating to hear how Oboro was before All for One. After Akira warped their clone again, the pair walked for a few minutes past the tea shop when they felt it drop. They immediately stopped and sent a quick text to Midoriya with their coordinates including elevation.

"While we're out, do you need anything in town?" Yamada asked, eyes sparkling.

' What did you have in mind? ' Akira huffed, knowing that look.

Yamada grinned and launched into how winter was fast approaching, they didn't let the couple get them much last time, and blankets would be good. Akira sighed in exasperation, knowing from the past few months with the couple he mostly just wanted to spend time with them. Akira froze as he mentioned their upcoming birthday, memories crashing into them at the reminder. Yamada stopped a moment later, turning to them in concern.

"Mori, are you okay?" Yamada asked softly, crouching in front and a little to the side.

Akira's breath caught before they shook the memory back. Come on, you know him. After a steadying breath, they signed, ' I don't celebrate my birthday. Please don't bring it up. '

"Okay, little listener," Yamada said with a hesitant smile. "Would you like me to tell anyone else so they know to avoid it?"

After a moment's hesitation, they nodded. ' Sleepy Cat. ' Akira still went with Yamada to the small shopping center servicing this outer section of Musutafu. He did talk them into some admittedly practical long johns and grabbed a pair of fuzzy cat socks they looked at a little too long. It still felt weird that Yamada and Aizawa didn't want anything in return, but they were gradually warming up to the idea.

On Tuesday, Mad Banquet made sure Shoto knew they were available after his testimony, and Akira promised to check in after their patrol. Dabi's testimony was slated for the last slot on Thursday, although the recording should be enough. Fragments left of the gangs under Shie Hassaiki were still a concern in Esuha, comprising most of the blue-collar crimes.

Akira settled in front of the tv in the common area as the news switched to live at the courthouse. The defense had moved to dismiss Dabi's evidence and testimony if he didn't come in person to prove his identity, so the media was of course trying to get a picture of the elusive Toya. With Aizawa escorting him, he managed to avoid showing his face until they were almost at the door and an especially bold vulture got just the right angle.

Akira sighed as a plate smashed and the small talk stopped. They turned to the rest of their classmates in various states of shock and signed while Koji translated, ' I'm sure you have questions. One at a time. '

"Dabi is Toya?" Midoriya asked almost to himself. "That makes so much sense..." he started muttering up a storm.

' Yes, although his preferred name is Dabi, ' Akira clarified.

"You've been living with a villain?" Kirishima asked, hardening and unhardening in spots reflexively.

' On a technicality, yes, he's an informant. '

"Wait, did you know about this?" Mina turned to Mad Banquet and Katsuki in confusion and hurt.

' I only told them what I needed to based on their own observations and unfortunate circumstances, ' Akira quickly corrected. The others didn't deserve the suspicion they brought on themself.

"Were you ever going to tell us? Does Aizawa know?" Sato asked, anger and uncertainty seeping through.

Akira shifted slightly away and thought about it for a moment. ' No, I wasn't going to tell you unless I had to. Yes, Eraser knows. '

Yaoyorozu frowned, looking over Akira like seeing them for the first time. "Why were you living with a villain when you're an Inoue?"

Don't react. Don't react. Keep them safe . Akira carefully kept their expression neutral as anger boiled up at the name. ' I haven't been an Inoue in years. '

"Were they like Endeavor, ribbit?" Tsu asked.

' No. Any more questions about Wildfire or can I go? ' Akira stiffly signed. No one seemed convinced, but only Ida started to say something. Midoriya quickly jostled his arm, stopping him with a look. Akira retreated to their room, only stopping briefly and grabbing a blanket before heading back to the elevator to the roof. They shot off a text to Aizawa as they opened the door. Akira pulled the blanket tighter around their shoulders against the biting wind.

The cold helped keep them in the present, although after a couple hours, they had to stiffly get to their feet and head back inside as their chronic pain flared. A pigeon glided back down to Koji's balcony, making a small smile slip onto Akira's face. It turned into a full grin as they saw the news and sent congrats to Shoto and Dabi. Messages flooded in from Blue Fang members, checking in on the brothers and Akira with how close to home the trial hit.

' Gentler, ' Akira demonstrated rubbing along Eri's scars again while Yamada interpreted. ' You should be able to feel the movement of your fingers on your skin but not uncomfortably so. '

Eri frowned, trying again before realization crossed her face. "Like this?"

Akira nodded with a sad smile, ' Exactly! ' They helped her with a few more grounding techniques they'd found helpful during derealization episodes before their deconstruction scars faded. The burning tearing she felt was different from the burning vibrations Akira experienced, but they suspected that was just the different ways deconstruction-construction quirks manifested.

Akira, Togata and Hitoshi played with Eri for a bit longer before she was off to nap time. Togata frowned thoughtfully once she was out of earshot and mused, "The others affected by Overhaul didn't have lingering pain, and from what Sir has explained, that seems to be the norm."

' Oh it is, ' Akira clarified as Hitoshi glanced at them. ' The first thing you learn before you can use your quirk on people is how to construct with little to no pain. With their experience, it's absolutely intentional to leave the victim with pain around the scar. '

"Hey, Mori?" Midoriya shuffled over, fidgeting and glancing over his shoulder as the rest of class filtered out.

Curiosity piqued, Akira signed for Mad Banquet to go ahead to the changing room. He'd been full of nervous energy the whole day, and they couldn't see what set him off. ' Can I help you with something? '

"You've been hanging out with Aoyama for a bit, right?" Akira slowly nodded. "Does he ever... just give you cheese? Like out of nowhere?"

Akira laughed and nodded, grateful it wasn't anything serious for once. ' Yeah, I think it's his way of trying to make friends? Sparkles really likes cheese, and I think it's like Blank sharing their space. '

Midoriya sagged in relief and chuckled, "Oh thank kami. I was so confused and then he left cheese on my balcony last night, and...sorry, I'm rambling again. Thanks."

In Heroics, Akira focused on reaction time and doing different things with different hierarchy levels of clones. Progress felt slow compared to what most other students were already capable of, and Akira kept having to remind themself that they started much later than the others.

"We're going to have a school festival," Aizawa announced. As he went on to explain the importance of the event for business, gen ed, and support course students, and Akira bit back a chuckle as he "fell asleep." It seemed most of the class still hadn't caught on that he never let his guard down that much in the classroom.

Everyone had drastically different ideas, making Akira increasingly confused about what the festival was even supposed to involve. A quick search on the forums mostly turned up results for the other courses' presentations. By the end of homeroom, the list of options was a conflicting mess, and Aizawa threatened the class with a public lecture if they didn't figure it out by the next day.

As they were getting ready for patrol with Kirishima and Taishiro, Akira checked the class group chat and looked up at Kirishima confused. ' Was a concert one of the options? '

"Huh?" Kirishima finished attaching one of his shoulder cogs. After checking the chat, he laughed, "I don't think so? But it does sound pretty manly. Mina was showing off her dance moves earlier, and Jiro practically had a music store in her room."

"That sounds like fun, kiddos!" Taishiro beamed as he waited for them to finish getting ready. "It's too bad the festival's closed to the public this year; I'd love to see you in person."

' We can probably get it recorded if you want, ' Akira offered. Nezu had eyes everywhere.

"That would be great!" Taishiro grinned and swept Kirishima into a hug, offering an arm for Akira as well.

After a brief hesitation, they thought fuck it and stepped into the embrace. Surprised at the warmth, Akira relaxed further into his leg, grounding themself in the softness of the fabric and the smell of warm lavender to remind themself who they were with. All too soon, Kirishima pulled away, and Akira followed suit.

Mortis cringed back as people kept wishing them a happy birthday, forcing a pleasant smile on their face as they took the sweets and extra servings thrust upon them. Thankfully, Fat Gum caught on when their façade presumably cracked enough after the first several gifts and started intercepting the well-meaning civilians. Red Riot grew increasingly confused at their discomfort but tried to keep himself between them and the crowds. The occasional graffiti and murals they were able to ignore before now loomed over them, reds turning to blood and odd angles turning into ears and eyes.

About halfway through patrol, Mortis slipped into an alley to get away from the pressure while Fat Gum and Red Riot talked with a store owner. Leaning against the wall, they took a few steadying breaths while tuning the city out for precious moments.

A door slammed open as they heard club music pour out from where there had been no indication of such a place. Mortis went on high alert as they looked around and saw a drunk person stumble out, bottle in hand. Curious, they moved at the edge of his senses, counting on his lack of awareness to check through the door and see a dive bar through the open doorway. Before the door could swing back closed, Mortis sent a quick text to Fat Gum with their location and a pop-up or hidden club.

Slipping inside, Mortis winced at the pulsing bass and mass of people on the dance floor and the various patrons they wove through. They recognized a few from wanted posters of varying severity and others from the gangs Fat Gum worked with. No one had noticed them so far due to their height, but Mortis knew they couldn't rely on that for long.

The point was proven as they recognized an underground hero at the same time as she spotted them, her eyes widening for a moment before she signed ' Follow. '

Mortis cautiously followed Jinx to a quieter area, steering clear of her quirk's radius. ' Sorry if I'm intruding on something, I wasn't aware this place existed. '

' You're the big man's new intern, right? ' Jinx asked, respecting the distance and keeping an eye out towards the patrons. ' He's probably worried about you. This place has signal blockers. '

Mortis winced but nodded as they realized this was more than just a club. ' Does he know about this? '

Jinx chuckled humorlessly and tensed. Her eyes tracked one of the patrons Mortis had clocked earlier as he headed towards one of the private rooms. ' No, tell him Jinx sent you off and he can explain what this is. I have work. '

Mortis inclined their head and quickly signed before she stepped away, ' I'm aware. Thanks for your time. ' They slipped back through the crowds, narrowly avoiding the gaze of one of the bartenders before slipping back out. Their phone immediately started buzzing and dinging constantly as they quickly turned the sound off, grateful the alley was empty at the moment. They quickly activated their coms and said, "I'm back and safe. Same location."

"What the hell happened?" Fat Gum immediately replied, concern dripping from his voice.

Mortis exited the alley as they heard him approach and replied, ' Info Hub. Jinx sent me off. '

Understanding and fond exasperation passed over Fat Gum's face as Mortis deactivated their transmission of coms. Red Riot looked between them confused and started to ask a question when Fat Gum said, "I'll explain later, Red Riot. Of course you would stumble into one when Jinx is involved."

Mortis chuckled at the irony and turned to Red Riot. ' Jinx is an underground hero who has a constant aura of bad luck around her. She's learned to work with it, but it has given her a bit of a reputation. '

Eventually, they returned to the agency, and Taishiro walked Akira through the paperwork of unintentional interference with an information hub while explaining what they were to Kirishima. They were excellent tools for intel gathering and underground heroes due to being filled with underworld denizens. Info Hubs were viewed as safe spaces for anyone with information or money as long as they didn't bring twilights and limelights into the space and didn't make active moves against members in the hub. Information gained from the hub could be used outside at the risk of the individual. The hubs always had signal blockers to enforce the isolation and were usually nigh impossible to get into without a connection or leak.

Since Jinx was an underground hero, the best way to contact her was through one of her many dead drop locations spread throughout her territory and a little beyond. As Akira's mentor, Taishiro would be making the drop, but Akira did agree to give their number in case any complications arose from their presence.

Back at the dorms, there was a sign-up sheet on the wall with various roles and instructions for the work study students to write their name next to whatever role they felt comfortable with doing or learning. After a moment, Akira wrote their name under Keys, Dancer, and Interpreter while Kirishima added himself under Singer and Special Effects.

Before they fell asleep, a message came through from Dabi. "Doctor wants Hand Job to prove himself. We'll be off grid for a while."

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 19: Strategic Intelligence Sass

Summary:

Since Akira had the day off due to Fat Gum's injuries, they practically buzzed with excitement to see how the presentations went. The format followed BLUF, or bottom-line up front, so their conclusions were on the first slide and the supporting evidence on the following ones. Koji presented first, correctly identifying Mina, Sero, Katsuki, and Midoriya as the agents of Team 1. He made ten dead drops, one meeting, and one brush pass. Team 1 went next, and they struggled due to Koji mostly using animals to pass information. They did correctly identify Kayama as the contact due to the first dead drop Akira found and intercepted two dead drops.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the cooperation but didn't say anything against it. Ida went next and identified Sato and Yaoyorozu as two agents of Team 2. He made fifteen dead drops and one meeting. Team 2, which also included Fumikage and Kirishima, had just identified Majima as the contact that morning and intercepted six dead drops. Ida's speed was a drawback in the exercise since while they didn't always see him make the dead drops, their placement wasn't well-concealed.

Jiro only identified Shoto as an agent, although now she suspected Kaminari and Hitoshi as well given who was left. She made five dead drops and three brush passes, forgoing the meeting to reduce the likelihood of her contact being identified. Team 3 also included Tsu, Uraraka, and Kaminari, who were not able to identify the teacher contact and intercepted one dead drop.

Shoji identified Hitoshi, although he had thought Kaminari was another agent. They had suspected Akira but didn't have anything to back it up. She made five dead drops, one meeting, and two brush passes. Team 4 had the longest presentation, and Akira started as the head of their group.

' Team Four partnered with each team in 1A and connected with teams from 1B through our liaison, Monoma, with the goal of mutual information exchange, ' Akira began as Aizawa sat a little straighter, eyebrows raised.

A look of understanding passed over Koji's face, turning to fond exasperation. Shoji nodded thoughtfully, growing intrigued as they continued. Jiro flicked her earjack back and forth as her confidence waned into frustration matching Ida's restless tapping.

Hitoshi clicked the next slide to show pictures of Yamada and the recording of Ectoplasm. ' We have high confidence Shoji's contact is Yamada Hizashi codename Present Mic, identified Ectoplasm as the contact for Honenuki, and identified Eraser Head as the contact for Yanagi. '

"We used box and triangle trailing methods," he continued and clicked to the next slide showing pictures of the intercepted and observed information passes, "and Mori was able to observe a meeting between Shoji and Yamada yesterday. We chose not to intercept one of the four observed dead drops and took evidence of the brush pass that occurred this morning to avoid tipping off our target."

"I also coordinated with Yaoyorozu on the main building roof to observe movements across campus," Ojiro added. "We had end-to-end encrypted group chats with the other teams we were in touch with, and the moles' names were automatically redacted in case of security breach."

"In the interest of information sharing," Aoyama added as the next slide showed several pictures of dead drops meant for other contacts. "We documented any suspicious activity we found and passed it on to our liaison, Monoma. Mori and I headed assistance with decryption and translation."

Aizawa muttered something under his breath, which had Shoji and Jiro look over in surprise, as presentations wrapped up, and All Might looked shocked. "You all did well this week," Aizawa drawled, running a hand down his face. "Not communicating that you should work independently on an intelligence mission was on us. Going forward, each team is to do its own work without knowingly interfering with another. That being said, the intelligence network was impressive to set up in such a short amount of time and with limited resources."

They spent the last half of class going over critiques of technique, communication, and subtlety. As the teacher contacts for 1A entered, Aizawa briefly explained their purpose of critiquing the moles while he did the same for 1B. He also informed them that espionage would be continuing but the teams rotated so each student would get an opportunity to act as a mole. The teacher contacts were randomized, so they shouldn't necessarily expect the same to be involved.

"Eri is with Kayama in the teacher's lounge," Aizawa explained as he led Akira and Yamada to his office. "Before we start, is there anything you need or want from us? Or is there anything that will help you feel more comfortable?"

Akira shook their head and took a steadying breath. ' I wasn't a late bloomer like they're trying to claim. The Wrens started the forced quirk manifestation process when I was five, and I triggered when I was thirteen. ' They had to take a few breaks as memories painfully resurfaced, but when they finally got through, the room lay silent.

' Fuck those bastards, I'm in, ' Yamada signed, expression stormy as his jaw flexed. ' What can I do to help? '

Akira sunk deeper into the chair as some of the tension left their body. ' If you can find someone with similar quirks to what All for One has, that would help limit the unknowns. Don't seek out the Wrens, but pass along anything that might be relevant, ' Akira explained. Limelights here kept surprising them, but they couldn't — and didn't want to — shake the paranoia around them as a whole.

Yamada's expression softened after a moment, and he asked, ' Did I do something different or stop doing something? '

What is he... Akira shook their head. ' No, that's the point. '

After clearing up some logistics questions, the three headed to the teacher's lounge. Inside, Kayama sat on the sofa with Eri, an assortment of crayons and colorful paper spread out on the table. Aizawa and Yamada stopped behind Akira, letting them observe for a minute before Akira stepped into the room. They gradually increased the weight in their steps until Eri jolted up.

Her eyes lit up as she ran over but stopped short, uncertainty filling her face as she hunched into herself a bit. Aizawa crouched with a soft smile. "Do you want to show us what you've been working on with Auntie Nem?"

Eri looked to Akira, who gave an encouraging smile, and nodded shyly. She led them back to the table where a few flowers and figures were interspersed with much darker colors with abstract shapes. As she explained each piece, Yamada's smile grew more forced as his eyes grew sadder, and Aizawa twitched occasionally under his practiced façade. Kayama held a quiet understanding in her eyes, and Akira wondered if that came from the victims she usually interacted with or her own past.

After making sure Eri was settled for the night, Akira let Aizawa know they were heading out and probably wouldn't see him on patrol.

He raised an eyebrow, "Probably?"

Akira shrugged with a small smirk, ' Never know where the night might lead. Should be pretty quiet, though. '

Akira relished in the freedom of roof hopping they couldn't quite get in the parkour course at U.A. They spent some time Friday and Saturday nights with Blue Fang, catching up with old friends and meeting new members. On Monday, Aizawa slipped their file for the week with homework he was returning, and Akira grinned. This'll be fun .

On the train, Akira listened bemused as Kirishima animatedly gushed about working with Uraraka and Aoyama since he only really knew Sero out of his group. I'll have to check with Vlad whether I can use information learned off campus , Akira mused as they waited to see how much he would say. The moles were never clarified as part of a team or not, so... fair game?

"So who are you working with this time around?" Kirishima grinned over at them.

Did he... did he honestly forget? Akira kept the excited smile on their face as they leaned across the divide conspiratorially. ' I actually want to play it close to the vest this round. Since we can't work together, might as well go with a completely underground approach. '

"That's so manly! I can't wait to see your presentation at the end."

Fat Gum and Suneater were on desk duty recovering from their injuries, so Mortis and Red Riot patrolled with the backup evening shift. The patrol was pretty quiet, mostly solving small personal disputes and a couple purse snatchers. The shopkeeps and bakers they were slowly learning the names of checked in, offering gift baskets and sending them away with a few extra goodies wrapped up. Mirage and Sandpaper showed Mortis the signs for their neopronouns, lun and hu, respectively. Bloom led the patrol since he'd been a sidekick for the longest, Mirage and Sandpaper only having their full licenses for about a year.

When they got back, Akira made their way to their room, tiredly waving to Kirishima as they left the elevator. A flash of their keyfab opened the door, crutches dully thumping against the carpet. They froze as the door clicked shut. Straining their ears, Akira let their capture scarf silently rise about them. There . Slight shuffling, muted voices, someone— no, some people were above them.

Akira warped onto their balcony, phone in hand with the locator app open as they directed their clone through their more familiar routine. With Kurogiri safe, the League wouldn't have access, so a new threat? Akira carefully leaned out to check the balcony above. Clear. But why would they... Akira silently huffed as they warped and the voices became clearer. Peering between the blinds, they could just make out the group gathering in what should be an empty room, clearly trying to move quietly but still making small noises.

Edging closer to the sliding door, Akira stayed just far enough from the glass to avoid fogging it. Inside, they could hear muffled whispers. "And you're sure they don't suspect you?" Uraraka asked as Kirishima walked in.

Akira grinned as the train ride made much more sense now. Clever play.

"Of course not!" Kirishima stage whispered back as the others shushed him. "Who would tell their target their own team members?"

Tapping off the locator app, Akira took a picture of them before slipping back into their room. They waited until they could hear Fumikage and Dark Shadow making their way down the hall before they warped next to the bird, keeping their steps in time with his just in case as they slipped into his room with him. They blinked in shock as dried flowers and leaves as well as decorated pinecones interspersed with the usual decorations in the dark room.

reaper: I want to check how far I can get from my clones before they disappear

raven: do you want assistance?

reaper: if I leave a clone in here while I walk away,

can you tell me when it disappears?

Fumikage jumped and looked around curiously while Akira grinned. They warped just to the side and had their clone wave.

reaper: also my trackers are in the room above mine

Kirishima, Uraraka, Sero, and Aoyama aren't your team

' Sensei said don't help? ' Fumikage signed, fidgeting as he looked around at the new additions.

reaper: technically he said "each team" should work independently

whether the moles are considered a team is up for interpretation

Fumikage sighed in exasperation but nodded, shushing Dark Shadow as they quietly trilled. Akira dropped the clone currently in the room and walked toward the balcony doors, running the distance calculations in their head for a minute before taking a step back and warping onto the grass under a tree. They kept an eye on the balcony of the empty room for a moment before jogging down the pathway, keeping a steady but quiet pace to avoid any evening runners.

Akira glanced at their phone every few seconds as they distanced themself from the dorms, curiosity growing as they still hadn't received a text from Fumikage. They eventually slowed to a stop on the other side of the swimming pool and texted Fumikage. To their surprise, the clone was still present, and checking their mindscape, Akira had a thread leading into the distance where they could make out what was probably the shadow. Curious, they tugged to make it warp, and a few seconds later, Fumikage asked if they meant to do that. Oh, I can definitely work with this, Akira mused as they headed back.

Armed with their notes and red herrings, Akira pinged Recovery Girl that they needed their prescription renewed and set off towards class with their crutches. The autumn air was getting nippy, and while it wasn't as bad as the oppressive heat and humidity of summer, Akira knew Aizawa and Taishiro would get on their case about not accepting help if they weren't proactive. Akira tiredly waved to Ida as they passed, warping once they knew he wouldn't talk with them.

They easily warped past the door into Vlad's class to place one paper in the podium and one into his pocket. Slipping back into their own classroom, Akira planted another slip under their own desk. All encoded, of course, with different ciphers so they couldn't easily be compared to derive the giver and receiver. Especially since the one in the podium used the same cipher as Tsunotori was using.

Akira kept to their usual routine for the most part, only deviating when they sent a clone with their phone to pick up on any conversations they needed to hear. Vlad unfortunately confirmed they couldn't directly use information learned off campus, but it could inform their conclusions as long as they had evidence collected on-campus to back it up.

raven: my community celebrates Mabon this Saturday.

Would any of you be interested in attending?

reaper: Is that an equinox thing?

raven: yes, it's a Pagan celebration

peppermint: do we need to be pagan to join?

raven: no

Akira smiled at their phone, glad Fumikage decided to open up. The new decorations and his altar made a bit more sense now. Since it was a potluck, they could bring dishes but weren't expected to as long as he got a headcount. Akira decided on caramel apple cider cookies since they looked easy enough to make and fit the theme.

On Wednesday, free of off-campus activities, Akira made an excuse of quirk training to slip away and find Vlad training his own class. He passed a note as they walked past, making their steps just loud enough to be heard by the teacher. They in turn made a false dead drop behind some equipment where he usually watched.

Akira did notice a tail coming out of heroics and easily slowed to talk with Hitoshi as Aoyama realized he'd been made. He skirted around them, continuing in the direction of the dorms but not quite towards them. Akira watched as he skirted into the trees while they and Hitoshi meandered into the main building. They smiled slightly as they heard another set of footsteps then a pair join them and realized Hitoshi was the head of a triangle around Fumikage and using Akira as cover.

' Where are you headed? ' Akira asked just a smidge broader than needed. ' I don't usually see you around here after heroics. '

"Just thought we'd chat while you head to your appointment," Hitoshi recovered smoothly, not even glancing behind themself. "We don't see each other as much now that we've got work studies."

Akira nodded along, but the slight falter in Fumikage's gait left them satisfied. Soon after, he ducked down a hallway and the other two followed. Hitoshi, to their credit, didn't break stride and walked Akira to their therapy session.

On Friday, Akira and Kirishima were slated for training at Fat Gum's agency so they could present, and Fumikage had the day off to present. Akira pulled Aizawa to the side before heroics, holding back a grin as they asked, ' Can I present after my assigned group? I can name all of them now if need be. '

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, regarding them suspiciously. "Why?"

' I want to see what they picked up on, ' a small, mischievous smirk spread across their face. He sighed and agreed after they revealed the names.

Fumikage also managed a couple red herrings, although his team of Hitoshi, Kaminari, Katsuki, and Sato caught on. They didn't identify Aizawa as his teacher contact, though. Tsu used her camouflage to get away with most of her dead drops, although her team of Ojiro, Shoto, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu did get photos of her brush passes to Snipe. Mina had the clever idea of using a slow-working acid to destroy evidence of her dead drops but didn't quite get the formula right at first, so had a few missed dead drops. Once she got the hang of the formula, she got them through, but her group of Shoji, Ida, Jiro, and Koji were able to gather evidence of their existence.

"We're changing the order for our last group," Aizawa drawled to All Might's surprise. "Mori requested their group go before them and was able to identify each member."

Kirishima deflated as he walked up with Aoyama, Uraraka, and Sero. Aoyama went first this time, opening with, "Given Kirishima and Mori's train rides to Esuha, we tried a bold strategy for concealing our movements. Who would suspect that one of their pursuers would give up the identities of the other group members?"

A look of understanding crossed Aizawa's face as he glanced to Akira. Not the worst strategy to employ, but definitely a bold move. They went over the encoded notes they found and the three encryptions and handwriting styles used to write them. Knowing the possibility of red herrings, they held onto what they believed to be the keys and treated each note as a potential lead. They stayed split up for the most part, covering what they could of campus and observing from the room above Akira's in case they snuck out. They did run into a couple of the corrective notes Akira left and took the advice to Aizawa's chagrin, although there was a lingering spark of pride in his eyes.

As the icing on the cake, the team had narrowed it down to Vlad and Yamada but went with the latter. They had eliminated Aizawa due to seeing a meeting between him and Fumikage.

Akira got up and started their presentation with the picture they captured of the group on the first night to their crestfallen faces. Kirishima looked like he wanted to melt. ' First, I want to say that it was a good strategy, and I initially fell for it. It's dangerous, however, to underestimate your target's paranoia. I was ready to ping my location to Aizawa when I warped to the balcony and instead overheard you talk about your strategy. '

Akira went on to explain their encryption methods, red herrings, and true path of communication. Aizawa sighed at their admission of helping the other moles, drawing a hand over his face as Akira went over how they used their quirk to their advantage. The other teachers involved came in to give more critiques and praises, talking about how their quirks could have been more efficiently used or relied on less.

"So what is your range, Mori?" Midoriya asked, eyes bright as his hands twitched.

' I actually don't know, ' Akira shrugged, drawing a curious look from Aizawa. ' I walked from the dorms to the other side of the pool, and the clone in Raven's room was still active. '

"Do you want to do distance tests?" he lit up.

' We'd have to get permission first based on that first test, but sure. '

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 18: Hosp-ilities

Summary:

"Are the adults here bad?" Eri asked quietly from Mortis' side. She trembled against their side, confusion pinching her face.

Mortis held back a sigh and typed out, "Not all of them. I have some bad experiences with people like them, but I will do everything in my power to keep you safe." They didn't fully trust the interpreter with a conversation like this, so the man awkwardly stood off to the side.

"Why?" Eri's voice wavered, eyes welling up with tears again.

"Because it took a very, very long time for someone to be there for me," Mortis responded and dismissed a location request. They gently poked Eri's chest with a sad smile, "And I know little kids like you deserve all the beauty and love you can get. It doesn't feel like that right now, but some day it will."

"You were like me?" Eri looked up, searching their face with an earnestness no child should need. She wrapped her little arms around Mortis, nuzzling into their side as they huffed a chuckle. A wet patch grew on their hospital gown as the little girl cried herself to sleep.

"Gather your things, you're leaving," a nurse barked not an hour later. She sneered at Mortis, flanked by two security guards as she stalked closer.

Mortis raised an eyebrow and sat up, careful not to disturb Eri. ' Is the hospital under attack? What's going on? '

"We don't serve your kind," she spat.

Wracking their brain, Mortis winced as they recalled the x-rays taken earlier. ' I have my provisional license with my quirk status in my bag. I can- '

"You have the extra pinky toe joint. That means you're Quirkless," the nurse harshly interrupted. "I don't care what lies you told or who you did to get a license. You're Quirkless. Get out."

Mortis jolted at the implications and took a deep breath. ' I can demonstrate my quirk, but since the license is provisional, I need permission from my mentor as this is not an emergency. One moment. ' They had Fat Gum on speed dial, fortunately, and he picked up on the first ring. ' Fat Gum, sorry I saw you were admitted with Red Riot. '

"Are you alright, Mortis?" he asked, taking in their bandages. "We just got sorted, so I was about to come find you."

Mortis briefly hesitated, uncertainty gnawing at their stomach. Come on, you've seen him with Quirkless kids. They shoved it down as his concern grew. ' I need permission to demonstrate my quirk so I don't get kicked out. '

"What?!" Fat Gum roared, making Mortis flinch. They pet Eri's back soothingly as she stirred. "They can't do that. What room are you in?"

Mortis quickly signed the number, and he said to stay on the line. ' My mentor will be here shortly. Since I do, in fact, have a quirk, you can be held liable for quirk discrimination. '

"I know what I saw!" the nurse scowled and stalked toward the bed while security at least looked conflicted.

Mortis shifted Eri behind them as they slipped their legs over the side. Clear shot to the window but high risk to Eri. Only door blocked by two minimal guards, possible sedative, and interpreter - not a threat. ' And a look at my bloodwork would show a quirk factor present. If I didn't need to stay with Eri, I would normally let this go. '

"That's impossible," the nurse fumed. "You're a child, so obviously you haven't gone through forced quirk manifestation."

' Most people who have are children! ' Mortis snapped, startling the interpreter. They glared at him until he shook himself and haltingly interpreted. If this went sideways—

"Mortis?" They softened their expression and turned halfway to see Eri, who peeked around them, only to shrink away from their malice. She tilted her head back as confusion and fear swirled on her face. "What's going on?"

Remembering Fat Gum's presence when he got angry, Mortis reached over and grabbed their speaker and readjusted awkwardly on the thin bed so they blocked her view of the adults. They turned down the volume so only she and Fat Gum would hear. "Everything's going to be okay," Mortis said slowly, forcing more gentleness into the tone than they could feel in the moment. "Big man is going to come in shortly, and he's going to look angry. I promise not at us. Remember what I said earlier? He's one of my heroes."

"Like you and Le... Lemon?" Eri searched their face as they nodded.

"Yeah, like me and Le Million," Mortis gently corrected. They couldn't quite hold back the flinch as the door burst open, albeit with a little less force than they were expecting. They gave Eri a reassuring smile as they turned back to the door, Fat Gum's hulking presence making the exit choice clear. Mortis tried to settle their body language for Eri and wrapped an arm around her while slowly telegraphing their movements. Fat Gum tore into the nurse, threatening lawsuits and investigations for quirkism as she paled. A cast enveloped his left arm and bandages peeked out from his other sleeve and pants, leaving the worry in their gut to churn over his thin form.

' Fat Gum, ' Mortis caught his attention as he reached that part of the rant. ' Technically you can't sue them for Quirkless discrimination. They're not protected under the law. You would only have grounds for me since my quirk factor is in bloodwork. '

Eri flinched into Mortis' side as Fat Gum turned in their direction, scowl still on his face. Mad at them, not at us. You know this. Mortis hardened their gaze, pointedly stroking the girl's hair as his own softened. The nurse eventually left, and Fat Gum took a few deep breaths. ' Eraser is on his way. Can I help or do you want to wait for him? '

Trying to swallow their first instinct to push adults away, Mortis worried their lip. Eventually, they signed, ' Be gentle with her. '

Nodding resolutely, Fat Gum kneeled down a little away from the bed. "Hey, kiddo, sorry I scared you," he started gently. "You've been really brave today, and I didn't mean to make you be brave for longer. Mortis has been taking care of you, right?"

Eri shyly looked up through her bangs, brow scrunching as she looked over him. "You're not scary," she said after a moment.

Akira stifled a laugh at that, feeling some of the day's tension drain from their shoulders at her acceptance. ' How are you and Red Hot? I haven't seen you this skinny in over a year. '

"Just a few broken bones here," Taishiro chuckled, although his expression seemed more strained. "Kirishima will be fine. Your friend kept it from being a lot worse, but he'll be here for a few days to make sure he doesn't pick up an infection. Tamaki has some quirk exhaustion, a fractured facial bone, and complications from some quick thinking, but he's also expected to make a full recovery in a few days. How are you feeling? They said you refused painkillers."

Eri immediately started apologizing and pulling away. Akira gently shook their head, and Taishiro interpreted for them, ' None of this is your fault. We wanted to rescue you and knew the risks going in. Saving you is well worth any injury. '

Taishiro's brow pinched slightly in concern as he interpreted the last sentence, but Akira added on ' later ' before he could say anything. ' I'll live. Right now, I'm more concerned about where she'll go. '

Akira snapped their head up at footsteps in the doorway only to relax more when Aizawa strode in, sporting the distinct lump of bandages under his shirt. They pointedly looked to his injuries then back to his face, but he just huffed.

' Eri, there's someone else here to see us. He may look grumpy, ' Akira teased as Aizawa ducked a smile into his capture weapon, ' but he's secretly a softie. '

Eri looked over shyly, slowly seeming to warm up to the idea of more people in the room now that the threats were gone. She gave a little wave as Aizawa padded closer and crouched by the bed. "Hey kid, my husband and I are going to be taking care of you from now on," he said gently. "I'm Shouta Aizawa."

Eri looked between them confused. "Why?"

"We're both heroes so can protect you," Aizawa started, pausing as she shook her head. He looked up at Akira, who gave a small sigh. They knew all too well how hard that thinking was to shake.

"No," Eri protested. "I destroy everything I touch. I'm cursed . I don't need to be protected. People need to be protected from me," she looked down, shaking harder as her voice got softer as she spoke.

Aizawa looked lost for a few seconds before his expression softened. "I used to think like that, too," he admitted. "My quirk can take away other peoples' while I'm looking at them. No quirk is a curse, and every child should be protected. We'll spend every day showing you that if you let us."

Eri looked up at Akira, eyes swimming with uncertainty and fear. ' I live with them sometimes, and they're very nice. I wouldn't let you go with him if I thought they would hurt you, ' they gently signed, earning soft smiles from the heroes.

Aizawa seemed to remember something and chuckled lightly. At Akira's questioning glance, he signed ' Pros or not? ' After a moment, Akira blushed but nodded, leaving Taishiro amused but a little lost.

Eri nodded slowly, lips twitching and mouth contorting. Her brow scrunched as she settled dejectedly, "How do you smile again?"

Akira smiled sadly and reassured her, ' You'll remember in time. It's okay to show your happiness and other emotions in whatever way you can. I found it easier to sign "happy" for a while. '

"Happy?" Eri asked after Taishiro interpreted. Akira repeated the sign and nodded. "Can I talk with my hands, too?"

"Between Zashi and Mori, I'm sure you'll pick up sign language in no time," Aizawa chuckled.

Eri looked between the two in confusion, cocking her head slightly. "Mori?"

' Ah, my name is Akira Mori. My sign name is Reaper, and my hero name is Umbra Mortis, ' Akira explained, repeating their signs as Eri tried to copy their names.

"Hero name?"

"It's like a nickname," Taishiro explained. "Mine is Fat Gum, and Shouta's is Eraser Head. My civilian name is Taishiro Toyomitsu."

"Reaper, Zawa, Tuy... Toya... Mitsu?" Eri furrowed her brow, trying to work out his name.

Taishiro laughed, fortunately conscious of his volume. "Mitsu is just fine, kid." He started to reach out for her hair, but she gasped and scrunched in on herself. Taishiro backed off a bit, letting her breathe before she started apologizing again.

"Hey," Aizawa interrupted softly, "if anyone makes you uncomfortable or does something you don't like, tell them. Tell us. It's called having boundaries."

Eventually, Eri drifted off back to sleep, exhausted from the day's events. Once they were sure she was asleep, Akira asked, ' How is everyone? Sunny D gave me updates on Red Hot and Purple Moon. '

"Midoriya has a bad concussion and broke an arm again, but not as seriously as at training camp. Togata had some whiplash and lacerations but will recover soon. Sir Nighteye is in surgery right now, but it's not as bad as it would have been without Nejire. Inoue is doing well post-surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. There were a few casualties in the courtyard, but most escaped with minor to no injuries."

"Inoue?" Fat Gum looked up at the underground hero.

' Something doesn't feel right, ' Akira worried their lip, stopping after a moment at a soft look from Taishiro. ' Her quirk should've blocked it. '

Aizawa frowned but nodded. "I'll see what I can find."

Akira was released into Recovery Girl's care that evening, not wanting to stay any longer than they had to. They scrolled through their notifications on the ride over, reassuring the class group chat and Haru. Recovery Girl healed most of their injuries, leaving some superficial ones to conserve their stamina. Aizawa, Yamada, Eri, and Hitoshi went home to get her settled, the couple's rarely-used office already set up as her new bedroom. Uraraka and Tsu went home for the night, while Midoriya, Koji, and Akira decided to stay at the dorms. Trudging into the building, Akira paused as they saw the mass of their classmates waiting in the living room with popcorn, an anime movie queued, and an assortment of snacks.

Dark Shadow spotted them first and darted up to greet them, "Welcome back! We've prepared distraction if you need it."

Akira smiled tiredly at the shadow bird. ' That sounds good, ' they signed and walked closer with a slight limp so the others could see without them shouting. ' And thank you .'

"Is everyone else okay?" Ida asked, looking between the exhausted trio.

Midoriya gave a rundown on everyone's condition as they settled in, Koji and Akira tucked onto the couch under a weighted blanket with Fumikage while Midoriya took one of the loveseats with Ida. The movie was a curious tale of a little girl with a quirk that she somehow lost control of partway through. The painter seemed to think it was artist's block but saving a loved one brought it back. The animation style was gorgeous, and Akira found themself paying more attention to the beautiful art than the plot itself. It was still pretty easy to follow, fortunately.

Akira carefully made their way along the half wall while invisible a couple yards behind Shoji. From a dead drop Ojiro stumbled upon on Wednesday, he and Aoyama had narrowed down the possible list of teacher contacts to the first-year teachers directly involved with hero students. There was also supposedly a meeting taking place that day in Gamma Field. Ojiro was perched on the main building's roof with Yaoyorozu, who was keeping an eye out for Ida. Aoyama was ahead of Shoji, and Hitoshi was "on a walk" chatting with Kaminari since Jiro was at her work study with Gang Orca.

Nearing their time limit, Akira had their clone on the roof warp again to avoid a gap in invisibility. Shoji tensed slightly and grew a small ear but otherwise continued on course. Akira cursed as he headed into the woods, knowing it would be much more difficult to move silently with the crunch of fall leaves.

"He should still be heading to Gamma Field," Ojiro called out over the coms.

"Abort," Akira made the call and broke off formation. Kaminari and Hitoshi veered off towards the dorms, and Aoyama continued his leisure stroll to the library. Once everyone gave the all clear, Akira made their way to the roof, still keeping up their invisibility just in case they were wrong about Shoji meeting his contact.

"Why aren't you going ahead to the field?" Ojiro asked, tail twitching in curiosity.

' I don't know if there's a distance I need to be within for my invisibility, and that would be a bad time for it to drop, ' Akira explained. ' We can still watch from up here to see if any teacher comes back this way, although it's a bit of a longshot if Tentacle Boy brings up the potential tail. '

"We've only intercepted two passes, though," Ojiro fretted as he helped Yaoyorozu pack up the receiver she made. "We only have until heroics tomorrow, right?"

' Finding out the contact is extra credit, and we've been doing a good job for this being our first week of training, ' Akira pointed out. After a moment, they sighed, ' If you're that worried about it, I can get to Gamma Gym's roof to see if I can spot anyone. I probably haven't been made yet. '

Akira texted the group at his nod, "I'm heading to the gym. Will let you know if I need a spotter." They silently padded along the roof, easily jumping over the glass bridge to avoid smudges or boot prints with the assistance of Hatsume's braces. Breaking the fall with a roll, Akira watched what little of the tree line they could see around Gamma Field from this angle for a few minutes before warping onto the gym's roof.

Akira immediately froze as they could now see a figure on the other side of the access hutch. Phone already out, they pressed the record button as they carefully padded around who they shortly made out as Ectoplasm talking with Honenuki from 1-B. They were definitely speaking a foreign language, so Akira just kept an eye on them while maneuvering to a better vantage point over the field. They watched Shoji emerge from the trees after a few minutes and followed his trajectory to where they could just see a figure in the shadow of the building but couldn't quite make out who it was from the angle.

Weighing their options, Akira moved back to the other side of the access hutch and warped, immediately dispelling the clone as they wobbled on one of the streetlamps that lit up the field at night. Sure enough, they watched Shoji walk up to the figure, and while they couldn't catch the conversation from there, Akira could just make out Yamada's voice and distinct hair style. They held their phone up and, while it wouldn't be enough to classify as evidence, Akira took a picture when they figured they'd get as much light as they could on the hero's face.

reaper : [Yamada meets Shoji.jpeg]

[ectoplasm meets Honenuki.mp3]

I'm going to be stuck here for a bit

flufftail : that's great! What language is that, though?

sparkles : Spanish, mon ami. Less elegant than French but still

a beautiful language

reaper : I'd hesitate to send the file to someone in 1B

we don't know who else is being pursued

blank : I'll ask Monoma

reaper : since when do you have Monoma's number?

blank is typing...

Akira smiled and warped another clone as they waited for Hitoshi to respond. After a few minutes ticked by, they stopped typing in the group chat and sent a dm instead.

blank : he's not bad, just really insecure

reaper : okay? I was just curious

have you been talking long?

blank : nah, it was actually Denki's idea to reach out.

We've been hanging out sometimes

reaper : huh

Do your dads know yet?

blank : there's nothing for them to know yet

Akira grinned as he quickly edited the message to remove "yet." Good for them , they smiled to themself. Snagging two loud blondes. Eventually, the pair left, and Akira warped back to the ground, the two on the roof long gone. They made their way back to the dorms after double-checking nothing had been left. Checking a ping from their phone, Akira smiled softly at the message from Aizawa that they got Kurogiri.

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 17: Raid Overhaul

Summary:

Ignoring the muffled crashes and explosions, Mortis and Le Million made it through several walls before Mortis' breath caught at the sight of someone in a white lab coat and Overhaul. Using Le Million's presence as cover, Mortis warped and silently padded to the other side of the pair. Must be Chronostasis , they clocked.

"Excuse me, but can I ask you some questions?" Le Million stalled, halting the pair's progress. Mortis took a couple light steps back as Overhaul turned, carefully watching for an opening. Eyes flicking upward, they could make out a figure crawling towards the group among the pipes on the ceiling.

Mortis squinted at the shadows, catching a few glints of something but very little detail with how the villain was moving. "Villain on ceiling no id," they transmitted quietly over coms as Le Million grew more heated with Overhaul. Eri lay in Chronostasis' arms frozen stiff, eyes wide with a flood of emotions and brimming with tears she kept sniffling to keep at bay.

"Let me make this simpler," Overhaul sighed as he turned back towards the empty hallway. "I'm telling you to die."

Mortis started to warp a wall of bodies when their control over the clone wavered. Startled, they looked up to see the villain they now recognized as Sasaki hanging down from the ceiling, bottle of sake in hand. So it is limited by sight.

Mortis quickly compensated for their off-balance clone, keeping its movements slow enough to avoid being dispelled by too much force. They darted after Overhaul and Chronostasis when CRACK ! A shot rang out from the darkness past them. They warped to the side, immediately dispelling the clone as a bullet grazed its shoulder, and a flash of relief surged through Mortis at Le Million permeating through it. They pulled their clone to the opposite side away from the trajectory a hair too late as they reappeared entirely too close to Sasaki's line of sight.

Sasaki swiveled his head around in confusion as they reappeared. They shied away, realizing a moment too late they shied towards the shooter. Shit . Mortis caught Le Million's eye and started to warp—

"What's your quirk?" the shooter interrupted their thoughts.

"Permeation. When activated, I can slip through anything!" Le Million immediately responded. "I didn't mean to say that," he gasped.

' Silent Night. I can warp and... ' Mortis grasped their tassels tightly mid-sentence to avoid signing the rest.

"I was wondering where you sprung up from," Nemoto sneered. "Sasaki, can you understand the small one?"

"No," Sasaki slurred, swaying like a clock pendulum. "You missed! Are you drunk?"

"That would be you," Nemoto groaned. "You should just be quiet and support the extraordinary like me."

Mortis warped, wobbling their clone as it backed up towards Le Million to look like it was under Sasaki's Control Shaker quirk. They passed a few hand signals behind its back to make sure he was on the same page. With a flicker of confirmation, Mortis crept behind the villains. They'd only have one shot at this if they were going to avoid facing them further down.

"You just want to use her as a cover to make yourself feel better, right?" Nemoto asked.

Mortis snapped their capture weapon up to wrap around Sasaki and throw him into Nemoto, breaking his concentration as both fell against the wall winded. Mortis quickly knocked them out while Le Million surged ahead, bouncing in between the walls to build momentum before snatching Eri and landing a harsh blow against Overhaul and Chronostasis.

Mortis rapid-fire warped a barrier of clones between Le Million and the pair as they turned with murderous glares. "Checking path," they pinged over coms before sprinting down the hallway, waiting for tugs like they felt earlier. Or anymore people. Or rising ground. Wow, way to narrow it down .

"Why? You can't be here," Eri whimpered, her voice just barely audible through Le Million's coms. "He'll kill you!"

Mortis' blood boiled and gut twisted as they whipped around, knowing that sentiment all too well. "I will never make you sad anymore," Le Million reassured. "It's fine. I will become your hero!"

He's not gonna like that . Mortis hissed as they warned over coms, "Get ready move buds." Overhaul struggled to pull a glove off as he rubbed where Le Million hit him. Hives spread out from the area, bubbling up from his skin as the fabric sawed against them.

"You break people. That's how you were born," Overhaul muttered as Mortis' clones fell into defensive stances. They briefly thought of having a clone restrain Chronostasis, but if he woke up, they remembered Deku saying his hair would be able to cut through most restraints that weren't equipped with quirk suppressants. Better to conserve resources.

"Aren't I always telling you?" Overhaul continued. "I have to get my hands dirty because of your selfishness. Each and every action you take kills people. You're cursed."

If you no longer care for yourself, you will watch us punish Asami every time you disobey . Mortis flinched as the familiar words echoed from their own memories. Your Quirkless curse is why she's in pain.

"How can you say that to your own child?!" Le Million snarled, snapping Mortis back into the moment even as a red haze settled over them.

"Huh? Oh, I see. That's the story I told you," Overhaul crouched, glove finally off. "I don't have any children."

"Move!" Mortis called out over coms as the ground exploded, shrapnel annihilating even the clones who jumped to avoid the initial disruption. They darted forward, warping close and sending clones in to distract him as Le Million dodged the spikes, holding Eri aloft and permeating through the few he couldn't avoid.

"It wouldn't have been an impediment even if she broke," Overhaul said as casually as if he said grass is green. He dropped the spikes in front of him and sent out another shockwave to dispel the nearby clones. Mortis pulled themself out of reach, capture scarf wrapping around a ceiling pipe as they fought to keep their emotions in check.

"If I put her back right away, I can revive her. Even if she didn't keep her shape, I could put her back the way she was. She should already know that firsthand."

"She's not the only, asshole," Mortis switched to speaker mode and swiftly warped out of the way as the walls collapsed into spikes and pillars blocking the way forward and back. The only reason they weren't ribboning him already was the innocent little girl still clinging to hope he'd be her dad. Cornering himself... he still thinks he can win this. Just keep stalling. Follow Le Million's lead.

"Oh?" Overhaul turned slightly to keep both of them in sight. "I don't remember you, but you should know better than to bother me. What'll you do if Eri gets injured? Under these conditions, I'm the only one who can heal her."

As Chronostasis sat up, Mortis locked eyes with Le Million. ' Switch ,' they harshly signed. The spikes shattered as the minion raised his gun, and Le Million threw his cape around himself in a billow as the shots missed. The moment the gun lowered, Mortis warped and darted forward, dodging to the side as Overhaul raised a pillar to throw Le Million off.

Swiping the gun off the floor, Mortis dispelled the clone and warped forward to snatch Eri up with the cape. They dashed behind spikes, heart pounding in their throat as the sharp scent of copper and dust filled their nose. As Overhaul started to disrupt the floor, Le Million surged back up, smashing his fist into the villain's face and nearly breaking his mask.

"A hero puts on his cape so he can use it to wrap up a hurting girl who's suffering and in pain!" Le Million cried out.

"You're very brave," Mortis softened their tone through the speaker, forcing themself to focus on the little girl who reminded them of so much. Eri looked back to them from Le Million with wide, terrified eyes that held the smallest spark of hope. Mortis slowed down their thoughts a little more than usual to make sure the words got through, "We're going to make sure he never hurts you after today."

"I'll never make you sad again," Le Million called out. "I will become your hero! I won't let you lay another finger on her!"

Mortis darted between the spikes, letting their instincts guide their steps as they kept some line of sight on the fight. One of the large pillars dropped as Chronostasis stood again, a box with familiar red darts next to him. "Eri, close your eyes, okay? You'll be fine, but it'll be scary."

Eri looked up with so much desire to trust Mortis felt their heart crack a little. After a moment of searching their face, Eri nodded and slowly closed her eyes, tightening her little hands into a death grip on their capture scarf. Steps pattered towards them as Mortis activated their scarf and threw Eri into the air. They warped up to meet her, pushing off one of the spikes to grab her as their clone took the dart. Eri froze in their arms, trembling like a leaf as they yanked themself out of the way of a hair arrow with their capture scarf.

A solid crack echoed in the makeshift room as they could just see Le Million slamming Chronostasis' head into the ground. Pushing off and out of the way of another set of spikes, Mortis' eyes grew wide as they realized Le Million wasn't dodging. They threw a few extra pounds of force into pulling him out of the way with their capture scarf as they saw a small gash on his shoulder. Shit, which rate?

Overhaul gloated as he snapped to face in their direction, "The diseased have been given Quirks, and that lets them dream." A fresh wave of spikes erupted from the floor. Capture weapon around Le Million's waist and Eri in their arms, Mortis threw themself at earlier spikes. They clung to a spike, capture weapon providing counterbalance as they double-checked neither were hurt.

"Thinking you can actually become something is an illness of the mind," his eyes gleamed above the mask as the spike Mortis balanced on dropped. Throwing both into the air, Mortis warped. They pushed off a fresh spike to throw themself against the other two and onto one of the pillars, capture scarf hovering about their shoulders. Mortis guzzled from the smoothie reserves in their costume, tubes within easy reach of their mouth for situations like this.

Just survive. Survive or they die for nothing , Mortis darted between pillars and spikes, their whole focus on keeping the other two out of harm's way as much as they could. Between keeping track of Le Million's altered physics and Eri's small frame, Mortis soon became littered with cuts and large bruises. Le Million finally permeated all but his torso and head. Thank kami, it was the hour hand. While easier to manipulate, Mortis again had to adjust and took two more gashes to their side and leg before they could properly compensate.

Where are they? Mortis grit their teeth as they twisted to keep Eri safe, landing another spike to their side. A moment too late, they saw the hand coming around a spike toward their arm. They tossed Eri to the side and Le Million up as they tried to intercept with their capture scarf but knew it would be too late. They inwardly braced for the sharp burn that would erupt from the point of contact.

The wall exploded, and a green blur blocked their vision, redirecting and snapping Overhaul's arm like a twig. Mortis warped to catch Eri and immediately dispelled their clone. They snapped their capture weapon up to catch and reel Le Million back in, panting as they pulled a knife on footsteps approaching from behind. Stopping just short of stabbing Sir Nighteye, they stood down while shifting to still keep an eye on Overhaul.

"It's fine now. You were amazing," Sir Nighteye praised them, wrapping his arms around Le Million as Mortis shied away from the attempted hug.

"Eri, this is Sir Nighteye," Mortis said softly through their speaker as the little girl looked between them. "You're safe with him."

Sir Nighteye gently took Eri and helped support Le Million, mindful of where his limbs were in case he tried to solidify while in his mentor's grasp. Mortis tensed as Anima stepped into their field of view, but he waited till they relaxed slightly before asking, ' Where do you need support? '

' Some bandages and I'll be fine ,' Mortis responded, wincing as it pulled at a gash across the back of their arm. Anima frowned but quickly ducked to help as they pulled supplies from their utility belt. At another glance from him, Mortis caved and let him help support their left side as they limped toward Siren. Several spiders and worms darted upwards from them, skittering through cracks in the concrete.

Eraser and Deku leapt toward Overhaul, and Mortis snapped their capture weapon out to drag Chronostasis further from the fight, unsure if he would stay down this time. Overhaul slapped uselessly against the ground, face contorted with rage as he tried to summon his quirk. He dashed towards Nemoto.

"Don't let him close!" Mortis called out. Eraser snapped his capture weapon toward Chisaki, but the man passed behind a spike just long enough to send out another wave. Mortis catapulted Anima into the opening with their capture weapon as they warped to the same, eyes darting between the others still in the room as Sir Nighteye and Le Million dodged to the left with Eri.

Taking stock, Mortis didn't see any new injuries on Siren or Anima, could hear Deku muttering over the coms, and could just make out Sir Nighteye against the left wall. "Eraser, come in," they called out, trying to keep the desperation out of the voice.

"I'm... room..." Eraser cut in and out. Mortis let out a small sigh of relief and tied off a bandage on their side with a slight hiss.

"Deku, status," Mortis asked as they warped to a slightly easier slope of a spike and wrapped their capture weapon around it for stability.

"Overhaul is- what the fuck?"

A strong wind blasted out from the center of the makeshift room, scattering loose debris outward before swirling into a pillar of air and dust. Warping closer, Mortis pulled up next to Deku and gasped at the sight of body parts stretching and separating. More vulnerable but actively using quirk in immediate area. If either body is significantly damaged before enhanced regeneration can kick in, might kill both.

"We need to get in there!" Deku shouted over the building wind, and Mortis sharply nodded. Deku jumped down into the wind with One for All activated just before Mortis warped, avoiding his trajectory.

Mortis stumbled in the strong winds and slashed out at Overhaul before dancing back, battered about by the hurricane-like force. Before they could be thrown, Mortis warped out. Eyeing Overhaul's rapidly shifting form, Mortis shifted both tubes into their mouth and rapidly warped in and out of the storm, slashing at the two bodies as Deku landed punches and kicks where he could. They lost their capture weapon to his quirk instead of an arm, and they just made out a snap of an arm as Deku put a little too much force behind a swing. It didn't look shattered at least.

Overhaul roared and grabbed Mortis' leg only to break apart a clone as they slashed at the limb forming above his head, warping again before it could find purchase. The winds died down as the duo chipped away at his stamina until they dissipated, all three left panting as hundreds of cuts and bruises littered Overhaul's skin. Bloodshot eyes glared at them, and his skin was almost entirely covered in hives and black crack-like marks where he had started merging.

Deku's eyes widened and Mortis warped back as they saw him start to move. Hardly a breath later, the ceiling caved in and Ryukyu crashed to the floor with Uravity, Froppy, and Nejire Chan on her back. Mortis tracked Overhaul as they dodged some falling pieces, just barely making out his now three-armed form pushing himself back with a pillar.

"Don't let him touch you!" Mortis called out over coms. They braced against the spike, eyes darting until they landed on Overhaul panting in a cluster of spikes. ' Deku! ' He whipped around at the call sign. ' Find Eraser, get him out. Should be to our right. ' Deku's eyes widened as he nodded, racing off with lightning arcing across his skin.

' He fused like we thought, ' Mortis answered Ryukyu's unspoken question. ' We stopped a full transformation, but I don't know how much he has access to right now, and he might try with someone new if you get close. '

"Who needs medical treatment?" she asked, taking a defensive position around the students.

' I'm fine for now. Le Million and probably Eri need it. I'm not sure if Sir Nighteye was injured in the last wave. I can bring them here. '

"I'll help," Froppy croaked. Mortis warped onto the next spike and quickly made their way towards the small group with Froppy.

The spikes broke apart from underneath them, revealing Overhaul with murderous rage in his eyes and it seemed some enhanced healing as his wounds were no longer bleeding. Froppy pushed off to the wall and grabbed Mortis with her tongue, pulling them out of the way of the spikes as they ran forward. The spikes didn't quite reach as far as Nejire Chan's quirk pushed Overhaul back, but Mortis gave an appreciative nod. Mortis stumbled as their injuries started to catch up with them and snapped out their crutches, smoothly transitioning from practice.

Froppy went to protest, but they rounded a few spikes and saw the trio. Sir Nighteye was the worst off with a puncture wound going through his abdomen, but Le Million was putting pressure on it. Mortis immediately pulled bandages out and pushed them into Froppy's hands as she froze. ' You've got this, he'll have help once we get out of here, ' Mortis encouraged Froppy, giving her a little nudge.

She seemed to break out of the trance and set in motion, speeding through what she could while making sure the wound was sufficiently wrapped.

"It's all my fault," Eri whispered, and Mortis immediately dropped into a crouch despite their legs' protests.

"None of it is," they insisted on speaker, wincing as the girl flinching back at their tone. Mortis tried again more gently, "The only bad one here is that monster. You are a gift, not a curse. We came to help you . You're not alone."

Eri shook her head, tears falling as she frantically scrubbed her face. Le Million tried to edge closer, face crumpling even as he tried to smile, but Chronostasis' quirk was still affecting him. Telegraphing and moving slowly, Mortis gently took the girl's hands away. "Be gentle. It's okay to not be okay."

Eri sniffled and threw herself into Mortis to their surprise. After a moment, they wrapped their arms around her, scooping her up and shaking their head as Froppy went to switch her over. "She needs familiar," Mortis corrected over coms since their hands were a bit occupied.

"If you're sure you'll be okay, ribbit," Froppy reluctantly assented as she took on Sir Nighteye and Le Million. They slowly made their way back as the waves were more concentrated towards those in active engagement. A flash of red brought a small smile to Mortis' face as they heard Eraser over the coms.

"Status from everyone who can hear this."

"Froppy here on our way to Ryukyu," Froppy responded. "Mortis, Le Million, and Sir Nighteye in need of immediate medical attention. Eri is with us."

"Siren and Anima. We're fine but blocked in at the underground entrance to the field." Mortis' breath caught at the underlying panic he was shoving down. The closet for speaking ... They shook their head. Eraser would've picked up on it, and they had Anima.

"Ryukyu here waiting to medical evac."

Mortis leapt out of the way of a stray spike, nearly warping on instinct but keeping a firm hold on Eri. They hissed as their left arm was jerked by their crutch getting caught but pressed the quick release so they were just left with the handle. With one last burst of speed, they emerged near where Ryukyu was waiting, and the dragoon hero quickly scooped them onto her back.

"Hold on, everyone, the ambulances are almost right above us," Ryukyu rumbled. Mortis helped Eri grasp the ribbed fabric as they rose into the sky, landing right next to the ambulances. Uravity helped everyone off, following Mortis' lead in gently reassuring the little girl.

Mortis made sure the others were seen to before reluctantly letting an EMT look at their own wounds as they leaned on their remaining crutch. Eri clung to them tightly, her big eyes staring up in so much fear and pain Mortis reluctantly let the EMT put them in an ambulance so she would go to the hospital. They kept trying to insist others would need to be seen more, but Eri then didn't want to leave without them. The trip to the hospital was filled with a tense quiet, the EMT simply cleaning and rebandaging their wounds and checking the fresh scars under Eri's bandages.

Mortis tried to keep their responses neutral, but Eri was clearly picking up on their nervous energy as she kept glancing to the doors and curling tighter into herself. Almost at the hospital, Mortis remembered a few emergency quirk items they kept and grabbed a couple artist gloves from one of their pouches. ' Can you interpret? ' Mortis asked the EMT, who nodded. ' Eri, does your quirk activate when you touch someone with one finger or all five? '

Eri watched their hands in fascination but dropped her gaze to her lap at the question. Trembling, she quietly said, "All five."

' Would you feel more comfortable if you couldn't activate your quirk right now? ' Mortis asked gently as the EMT looked to them questioningly. At her tearful but emphatic nod, Mortis held out the gloves. ' A lot of quirks work like that. I carry around these gloves just in case people need a little help controlling it. You know the girl in pink who helped us down? She wears gloves like this at night so she doesn't float away. '

Eri looked up slightly at that, brow scrunching as her nose wiggled. "But... he said it's a curse." She hesitantly touched the blue glove with apples, eyes brightening a little at the texture.

Mortis carefully placed the soft gloves in her hand and forced a small smile. ' No quirk is a curse. You are an amazing, wonderful person who deserves all the soft and pretty things in the world. That man was as close as you can get to a curse. ' Her eyes widened at that, tears falling freely now as she slid on the gloves. Mortis gently reached for her face, only wiping the tears away when she leaned into the touch. ' Now, I know sometimes I get a little overwhelmed by a lot of sounds. Would you like to hear a little less? I think we're getting close to a place that'll help us but will be very loud. ' Eri frantically nodded, so Mortis pulled a pair of small earplugs out of another pouch on their belt to the mild amusement of the EMT. ' These might feel a little weird, but they'll help. '

The EMT fortunately got the message and admitted them through a slightly less busy bay, although it was still fairly loud. Eri held her hands over her ears, curling into Mortis as they were wheeled towards a room. They caught a glimpse of Red Riot and Fat Gum's distraught skinny form but passed too quickly to see what happened. Please be okay. One of the nurses explained that everyone injured during the raid was being admitted into the hero ward, including students, so no media would be waiting for them outside.

' You said all of them are being admitted, right? ' Mortis asked through a hospital-provided interpreter. ' Was anyone admitted under Trophaeum Wren or Asami Inoue? '

"What's your relation?" the nurse narrowed her eyes.

' She's my sister. '

"Ah, yes, I have a list here... yes, she was admitted not long ago," the nurse read off the chart, and her eyebrows flew up. "She's in surgery right now for a gunshot wound but is expected to make a full recovery."

Mortis snapped their head up at that, signing a quick thank you as their mind raced. ' No quirk exhaustion? ' they asked. At the negative, they were even more confused. Her shield stops all but sniper rifles and some quirk effects. If she wasn't exhausted, what the hell happened?

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 16: Magnum's Grand Opus

Summary:

Patrol was quiet that evening, mostly keeping up appearances of nothing changing while checking in with contacts. Tuesday night after patrol, Akira and Kirishima trudged back into the dorms after parting ways with Amajiki. Akira cocked their head in surprise to see Koji on the couch instead of an insomniac and motioned for Kirishima to go on.

' How are you holding up? ' Akira asked gently as they settled on the couch next to him.

Koji glanced up, only seeming to notice them as they started signing. He shrugged as confusion tugged down at his lips. Koji looked around and waited for Kirishima to go up in the elevator before signing, ' Did you know the League was getting involved? '

Akira started to reply but felt their phone vibrate and snorted at the picture of a little spider nestled against Dabi's arm in his sleeve. Returning their attention to Koji, who was now openly confused, they nodded. ' They became aware of Eri's situation and decided teaming up with a couple heroes would be worth getting her out. It's only a temporary alliance, but they can sympathize with her pain almost as much as I can. '

' Why did they kidnap you and Murder God then? ' Koji asked gently but firmly.

'They thought they were saving us from people who didn't understand,' Akira clarified, 'giving us an opportunity to be free from the constraints and oppression of current hero society. Most villains aren't monsters, they're people who were beat down by society and decided to revolt instead of try reform again. We're not the first generation to think we can change society from the inside, and we won't be the last. Most burn out or die too quickly to make a difference, so villainy and vigilantism are statistically better for making a difference.'

Koji peered at them with a questioning gaze for a moment before his expression softened. ' You were at that point, weren't you? '

Akira chuckled dryly, ' I still haven't technically walked away from that line. Wildfire will reach out to someone when your buddy is ready for pickup. If you need to leave at some point to translate, I'll cover for you with Mad Banquet. '

Sure enough, the next morning Koji wasn't in class, and a message in the Mad Banquet group chat simply said work study came up. Akira reassured the others that he'd be fine and confirmed Aizawa was aware. Not even an hour into first period, everyone on the mission checked their phone to find the raid briefing scheduled for the next morning at five.

Akira made a new group chat with their teammates for the espionage exercise and added double-end encryption and identity verification as recommended in the pamphlet.

Mortis : everyone should turn on blackout screen

it keeps people from reading over your shoulder

Can't Stop Twinkling : done, mon ami

Tailman : done

Siren : already had it, but good idea

Mortis : has everyone reviewed the exercises?

Tailman : how are we supposed to tail him when he has an

intel quirk?

Siren : Mortis and I can move almost silently, although they're

better at it. Twinkling can be damn sneaky when he wants to be

You're probably the most exposed

Mortis : I agree. Also, the classification is Thinker/Changer

We can use other teams to disguise our movements

but Tailman is going to be the most difficult to hide

Tailman : There's a stationary position, right? I could try that

Can't Stop Twinkling : that would be best, I think

' How are your teams going? ' Akira asked as they set their phone on the grass next to them. ' I do feel a little bad for teams and solos where one or more are on work study at a time. '

"We're not sure what to do right now," Shoto admitted reluctantly. "It will be hard to do any of the maneuvers with Jiro as our target."

Hitoshi and Akira winced sympathetically. "Might not want to say the name of your target when they have a Thinker quirk," Hitoshi warned in a low voice.

Fumikage looked up from his lunch with a curious glint in his eye. "Perhaps the dark ones will work together. They might be more inclined if they hear us doing so."

Akira hid a chuckle in their next mouthful as Dark Shadow mimed the words behind Fumikage. He scowled and looked back at the shadow bird, who just warble laughed.

' Dark Shadow, what's got your spirits up today? ' Akira let a smile slip onto their face.

"I'm sharing the sky!" Dark Shadow buzzed, vibrating in excitement. "One day, little Fumi and I will take you flying! And then you can see what I've been showing him!"

Fumikage's feathers fluffed at his companion's eagerness, but he nodded more reservedly. "We would be honored to take you flying once we have the stamina for it."

As the rest of Mad Banquet continued chatting, Akira started tracking a shrike that didn't quite seem to have a normal flight pattern. Squinting against the harsh sunlight, they could just make out something attached to its ankle and... Clever , they smirked and waited till it was facing away before turning to the group again, Fumikage watching them curiously. ' Does anyone know who has Animal Whisper as a target? '

The others shook their heads, but Fumikage's gaze immediately darted upwards. He smirked slightly as he saw the shrike and shook his head as well. "Clever move, using animals in his absence."

Akira nodded and quickly signed ' warp ' before starting to follow the bird under the cover of invisibility. There weren't any rules against helping the other teams, although with how competitive their classmates were, Akira wouldn't be surprised if most of the others didn't think about it.

They followed the shrike for a few minutes before it dove to catch a worm, and the note around its ankle was gone. Curiosity piqued, Akira crept closer to the small garden set into one of the half walls and caught a glimpse of a paper and harshly severed twine under a bush. They quickly snapped a picture with their flash off and made their way back to Mad Banquet.

Better for them to think the hiding spot isn't compromised than to intercept an early piece of information, Akira reasoned. Taking a 50/50 shot, they texted Katsuki asking if he wanted intel and what he'd be willing to trade for it. Akira made it back just as the first bell rang and had their clone stand up so they could easily walk into its place. They still warped again and had their new clone mostly fluidly walk with the group while they watched the trees. After a few minutes, no one emerged, so they padded back, glad their muscle memory was mostly accurate as they saw their clone sitting at their desk.

Easily replacing the clone, Akira noticed Shoji's backward-facing eye twitch at the slight visual disturbance. They just continued as if they were there the whole time, not even acknowledging the watchful eye as the class settled in for Ethics with Aizawa. Akira did catch a few more spiders than usual in the room, most of them sitting in webs but a couple clung to the underside of desks. They weren't as concerned with being identified as someone for the solos to monitor since they should be monitored regardless because of their quirk.

Akira fought to restrain an amused smirk at the pieces of paper floating close to the ground that almost seemed magnetized to Aizawa. At least we're not going up against 1-B directly . Aizawa followed their gaze briefly but continued his lesson, slipping the papers underfoot with practiced ease. As they headed to their cases for Heroics, Akira warped, tucking back into their chair and checking the desks for taped objects and loose papers. Under Ida's, they did feel a slip of paper so ducked underneath to check, opening it just enough to catch a time and place. Quickly taking a picture, they sent it to their group chat and slipped out the back door. They sprinted as fast as they dared while moving quietly to catch up before the locker rooms, just barely slipping into place before their time was up.

There's gotta be a way to time it warping . Their time limit plateaued at ten minutes once they could maintain their weight. The only extension they could maybe see was through clones warping, but even that was limited.

They went over basic tailing strategies and the rule of three with Aizawa taking point and All Might supporting for obvious reasons. Most of the period was quirkless training to build up their skills, but they were allowed for the last fifteen minutes. As they cooled down, Katsuki stormed up and practically slapped a note in their free hand. Akira raised an eyebrow slightly but continued, tucking it into their wrist knife sheath until they were confident there wouldn't be eyes around.

Akira slipped into the bathroom before weapons training to check the note, smirking slightly at the offer of sharing information freely between the two teams. They flushed the note and brushed against Katsuki's right arm as they passed to get to Mad Banquet in acceptance. Akira tried to keep a closer eye on Snipe to see if he was one of the teacher contacts, but they had to devote most of their focus to firing their gun. Even the small caliber one they were trying out had an odd feel to it, and the recoil was not helpful for their arthritis. Still, it was important to have options and know how to safely handle a variety of weapons in case of emergencies.

Once the class got back to the dorms, Akira sent Katsuki the picture of Koji's message and created a group chat for the two teams.

reaper named group chat Jisquad

reaper : [message.jpeg]

Watched a shrike deliberately drop this off

broccoli : Isn't this cheating?

mudergod : it's not against the rules, nerd

reaper : agencies often work together

should be fine

pinkqueen : so Thinker quirks. Crazy how they all ended up on the

villains side.

blank : yeah, the odds were not in our favor this round

sero : duuude was that a Hunger Games reference?

blank : ...what?

reaper : Katniss Everdeen? Revolution against a government

that forces children to fight to the death until one is left?

blank : I thought Katniss was a superhero archer?

pinkqueen : it's a nickname that's a reference to the series

just... *sigh*

anyways... are we gonna talk about how ████ is controlling

birds from a distance now??

Wait why did that get censored?

reaper : sparkles set it so all target names are auto-redacted in our chats

that way if they get access, there's nothing directly tying us to a specific one

The next morning, everyone on the Hassaiki case was up early, nursing coffee and smoothies while they anxiously waited for Aizawa. The underground hero would be driving them to the Nighteye agency in a van to avoid the scrutiny of early morning commuters and potential yakuza contacts. The mood was somber with a small spark of hope hanging in the air as they made the two-hour drive. Akira pulled out their phone as it vibrated and smiled slightly at the news the League had a potential lead on the Doctor's whereabouts. Dabi and Twice would still be at the compound, but Kurogiri would no longer be their primary exit.

The briefing was about what they were expecting, a frontal assault with whoever could push through doing so with a priority on getting to Eri before Overhaul could get her out. They had a good idea of the tunnels leading out of the base from small critters Anima was able to sneak in, so police by the outlets would also be ready to engage if necessary.

Thanks to a yakuza member buying a toy for Eri, they were also aware of the sequence needed to open the passage to the underground tunnels. To Mortis' surprise, Deku nervously stood up to present his analysis of the Overhaul and the Eight Bullets with an encouraging nod from Eraser. The breakdown of possible trigger enhancements and weaknesses startled a number of the pros, to which Mortis had to keep themself from looking smug.

' If I may, ' Mortis interjected as Deku started to sit. Sir Nighteye motioned for them to continue. ' Based on scar and quirk use analysis, he is either on the cusp of or currently capable of merging two entities. From his mysophobia, we have low confidence he will do so to himself unless he is truly desperate. If he gets to that point, keep him away from physical contact with people when at all possible. '

"Why haven't we heard of someone like that before?" Rock Lock recoiled.

' This type of quirk is exceptionally rare in the first place and getting to that level of mastery takes many years. He's already demonstrated extraordinary talent, but his age is why I hesitate to say he is currently capable of it, ' Mortis explained.

After sorting out a couple more logistics, the heroes and police made their way to the exit. Trophaeum sidled up to Mortis, who raised a brow at the proximity. "It's been a while, Mortis. How are you?" she asked with forced cheer.

Mortis slightly shook their head at Eraser and Fat Gum as they started to make their way back over. ' I'm fine. Ready to free this kid, ' they signed carefully. ' And you? '

"I'll be glad when this is over," Trophaeum plastered a fake smile on her face.

Mortis side eyed her for a moment, taking in the lingering confusion and hint of a bruise peeking out of her costume underneath her hair. ' See you on the other side, ' they settled on before making their way back to Fat Gum. It burned that the best thing they could do for her right now was stay away.

As a couple detectives handed out lists of Shie Hassaiki members and quirks for easy reference, Red Riot turned to Suneater. "Things are moving fast now, huh?" he grinned.

"You're energetic for how early this is..." Suneater grimaced while making final checks on his costume.

"All the pros are so calm... Is it 'cause they're all used to this?" Red Riot widely gestured, but Mortis picked up on the fidgeting and beads of sweat.

Mortis briefly placed a grounding hand on his arm as Deku wondered where Gran Torino was. Sir Nighteye and one of the detectives filled him in on the League moving, and Mortis subtly looked to Eraser. After a moment, he met their gaze and glanced over to Sir Nighteye. He inclined his head slightly, knowing what they were talking about.

"Maybe we can catch the Shie Hassaiki and League of Villains all at once!" Red Riot perked up with Deku.

Everyone finally gathered at the compound gates, Fat Gum handed a swordfish treat to Suneater and double-checked Mortis had enough in their pouches and pockets. Mortis ducked their head as a small smile slipped onto their face at his worrying.

Just as one of the detectives pressed the buzzer, Katsukame burst through the front gates. Three capture weapons shot out, pulling police out of the way as Mortis warped out of the hulking figure's path. Katsukame flexed to throw a punch, but Ryukyu shifted into her dragon form in time for only air pressure to blow past. "Ryukyu Agency will take care of him," she called out with a death grip on the man's back. "The rest of you go now, while you have the chance!"

Mortis jumped down inside the compound as three members closed in on the entrance. "Hey, what's a kid doing here?"

Ruin Blaster using environment . Mortis darted forward, warping next to the Blaster as he sent out the leaves and throwing him to the ground with their capture weapon before dancing back. The front runners surged to meet them, Mr. Brave and Kesagiriman stopping to restrain the three while the rest continued. As they reached the threshold of the steps, a mass of people burst into the courtyard from the smaller buildings, filling the area and keeping many of the heroes back. Mortis warped to just inside the main door, clone quickly dispelled by a stray elbow and fell back in line with Fat Gum and Sir Nighteye pushing through. Rock Lock, Eraser, and a few police made it through as well.

"They haven't done anything suspicious yet!" Fat Gum glared over his shoulder as they ran.

"I'm getting kind of worried, man," Rock Lock admitted, "We have no choice but to keep going now that we've started, though."

"They're probably underground getting ready to hide or flee right now," Eraser grunted.

Sir Nighteye stopped on a dime by a fluid flower arrangement, moving the vase and pressing a few boards as he muttered about his foresight. The hidden door open, Bubble Girl and Centipeder quickly engaged the goons, buying the rest time.

Quickly hitting a dead end, the rest of the heroes stopped a couple meters short as Mortis charged up to it with Le Million. Mortis went to knock on the concrete out of habit but felt a slight pull from the other side.

"It's just been blocked off by a wall," Le Million called out as Mortis looked curiously at it. "But it's a pretty thick wall."

Mortis snapped back to the situation and clarified, ' About two meters. This could be Overhaul or Mimic's potential response to trigger like Deku mentioned. ' The seams would be in the surrounding metal, so there were no obvious signs of Overhaul.

"It's like he's telling us he'll be in trouble if we go this way," Deku muttered before snapping his head up. "If this is Mimic, he might still be controlling the area. Everyone be careful!"

Red Riot and Deku easily broke through the wall as Mortis and Le Million swiftly moved to the side. As the group charged down the hallway, the surrounding metal groaned and warped. Shit, that's definitely Mimic . Eraser clarified his ineffectiveness without seeing a body, and Mortis glanced to Suneater worriedly as he started to mutter self-deprecatingly.

"Tamaki!" Mirio placed a firm hand on his shoulder as Mortis started to stumble towards the teen. "That's not going to happen. You're the Suneater! Besides, this is just the stopgap. No matter how much they try to warp the path, so long as we know the direction of our goal, I can get there!"

Steeling their resolve, Mortis surged forward with Le Million and said through their earpiece, "I can keep up. Better with two." The rolling hallway wasn't dissimilar to the nausea they felt when they warped while in motion, so the small adjustments to stay upright weren't entirely new to them. Mortis swallowed their uncertainty and forced themself to follow their gut as they listened to the pull on the other side of the next wall, warping the full three meters just in case as Le Million looked to them in surprise.

With a thumbs up, the pair pushed on despite the worried calls. "Mortis, be care-" Fat Gum's voice cut out as they passed through another wall, but Mortis felt their confidence surge at the warning.

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 15: Stake-arts

Summary:

Akira jolted awake in a cold sweat, shaking as they took in the unfamiliar but distinct patterns of Mina's room. They pulled their Bastard plushie tighter to their chest and let the weighted blanket and softness of the plush ease their racing heart as phantom burning vibrations wracked their body. I'm at U.A. I'm in Mina's room. We were having a sleepover. He isn't here, Akira repeated until their breathing eventually evened out.

Akira silently slipped out of the room around the tangle of bodies and decided on crutches while getting ready for the day. Checking their phone, they caught a message from Fat Gum confirming night shift to do a stakeout with Mouse and Ghost, one of the former vigilantes he basically adopted. Out of the Mad Banquet, only Hitoshi and Shoto were attending class that morning, and Aizawa made note of who would need to makeup quizzes.

In English, Yamada reminded everyone to turn in their paper topics by Monday so he could look over them. Akira wasn't entirely sure if forced quirk manifestation methods and their long-term effects was school-appropriate, but they had a solid backup of the Greek pantheon's evolution. They thought about the Roman pantheon, but due to the empire's spread and absorption of other religions, it was far too broad a topic.

In Art History, Kayama asked the class to find an art style that they connected to over the weekend and have a one-minute presentation ready for Monday – or Tuesday for those who wouldn't be in class. Since they were hero students, Kayama often tied what they were learning into methods of expressing themselves and used a wide variety of styles to show that being different can be a huge asset. Akira couldn't help but think of the R-rated hero's first costume and how it forced the commission to place regulations protecting feminine heroes from exploitive costumers.

That night, Mortis met with Mouse and Ghost before heading out. "Alright, Umbra Mortis, Ghost. Ghost, Umbra Mortis. Since both of you are new to this – don't give me that look, Ghost – I'm going to go over some ground rules," Mouse started. "We'll be setting up for an all-nighter in a building down the street from the Shie Hassaiki compound. If we're spotted, the whole mission could fail, so stealth and deception are above everything except safety. If we get separated for whatever reason, make sure you don't have a tail before you head back to the agency. If you need backup, tap this twice." Mouse handed each a dark-banded watch. "These have built-in trackers and will ping the agency network to let us know to send help. If no one confirms in fifteen seconds, it opens a request for covert assistance in the Hero Network. Any questions so far?"

Mortis shook their head and looked up at Ghost, who just seemed bored. After a pointed look from Mouse, he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Great! We're tracking all activity in and out of the compound but put a mark next to an entry if something seems different. Behavior, body language, who they're with, anything. We're not going to follow them, just make note of what we can while they're in line of sight. Backup night shift will be following through with any breaks from the norm."

The trio set out for the compound, silently moving along the rooftops while the city started to slow under the lamplight. Mouse was in faer stealth costume of more muted greys and blacks with thin blue streaks. Mortis had never seen Ghost's costume before, fairly simple black body armor with red stylized bat accents that looked similar to a pre-quirk comic character. Minus the red helmet, of course. That would stick out like a sore thumb, .

The day shift's observation hadn't turned up anything unusual other than identifying a few of the new drug dealers coming in and out of the compound. Once the trio finished setting up with coffee, snacks, and journals, Mortis wordlessly moved to the high point in the hollowed-out building, easily warping into the shadowy area in the rafters to conceal the sudden appearance and waiting a minute before shifting into the light enough for communication as needed.

"What're you doing up there?" Mouse asked, tilting faer head to look up at them.

' Getting another perspective, ' Mortis easily replied. ' Higher is better for observation. '

Mouse chuckled as Ghost peered up at them, eyes narrowed. "Did the infamous gargoyle Eraser teach you that?"

Mortis snorted but shook their head, ' No, not that there's anything wrong with gargoyling. '

They spent the time mostly listening to Mouse's stories about hero work, pausing whenever they spotted movement around the compound. Eventually, they circled around to U.A., and Mouse mentioned fae attended. "Yeah, I would've been stuck in Gen Ed but figured out I could chew through the robots' wires in mouse form. I heard they've still got that archaic system, so how'd you get in without a combat quirk, Mortis?"

' Mostly rescue points, but I did take down a few once there was shrapnel around to get into their control panels. Just a matter of pulling or slicing at wires from there, ' Mortis shrugged. ' How'd you not get electrocuted? Those robots pack a punch when you don't pull the right ones first. '

"Eh, Recovery Girl had me covered," Mouse grinned.

Ghost muttered something under his breath about hero students, making Mouse laugh. He glowered at faer, "I've got a regeneration quirk, you people have no excuse."

Mortis cocked their head. ' How does your quirk work if you don't mind? I remember hearing it's a bit unusual. '

Ghost snorted derisively and crossed his arms. "You could say that. I can regenerate from anything I've run into so far, but I have to die for it to activate." Mouse winced, and Mortis simply nodded. After a moment, Ghost muttered just loudly enough for them to hear, "Most people ask how I found out."

' Most people don't wear Primordial ,' they shot back. His eyes widened and darted to their shoes, to which Mortis huffed. ' Size up for street, custom like yours for costume. ' The only documented quirks with the initial activation of death were the result of forced quirk manifestation, so they didn't bother sugar-coating it.

The night shift passed much as the day had with only a few people to watch for and inform the day shift of. The trio trudged into breakfast, even the usually energetic Mouse feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. Mortis loaded plates with their usual at the agency even as their stiff legs protested from extended use. They slipped into a seat at Fat Gum's table with a small wave to the boisterous hero.

"Mortis! How was your first stakeout?" Fat Gum grinned. "Did Mouse talk your ear off? I hope Ghost didn't chase you off."

' Technically not my first stakeout, ' Mortis shrugged, robotically starting to eat. After a moment, they straightened a bit at the mild concern creeping onto the heroes' faces. ' They were fine. We didn't find much, just a few more faces to watch for. '

"Progress is still progress, kid," Fat Gum's grin diminished slightly. "Are you alright?"

Mortis looked up then in confusion. ' I'm fine, just tired. Why?... ' It clicked and Akira let themself relax as they switched masks. ' Sorry, forgot to switch modes. '

Akira spent most of breakfast just listening to the heroes talk, focused on making sure they ate enough to stay on track before they crashed. This is going to be a long weekend , Akira mused as they settled into one of the guest rooms. A part of themself they rarely listened to protested at the name, but they pushed it down. Resolutely ignoring the small touches that made it more comfortable than during their internship.

Akira tiredly tapped the door frame with a crutch before walking into their crowded living room. ' I'm making tea. Anyone want some? '

"Tea would be lovely, my apologies," Kurogiri said and started to stand.

"You deserve a break, please," Magne reached out a placating hand. Akira watched them curiously as the League seemed to be more antsy than usual. "We were discussing what to do with that monster, Overhaul," she spat.

' I take it you know about his daughter then? ' Akira asked.

"She's his daughter ?" Spinner hissed.

Akira wavered a moment, thinking over the briefing. ' Technically we're not sure of their relation, but that's at least the story he's going with. ' Akira briefly explained their theory on how the drug is being made, occasionally glancing at Shigaraki's odd expression. It was some kind of mix between confusion, disgust, and something they couldn't quite place. Which was especially unnerving since he was usually an open book.

Mr. Compress took off his mask and rubbed his eyes while Spinner seethed on the couch. When Akira brought the kettle and cups over, Mr. Compress spoke up, "It seems the heroes are interested in removing the girl as we are. Since we have the advantage of people inside the yakuza, it would be advantageous to work together."

Akira's eyebrows shot up as the tray clattered the short distance to the table. They quickly righted the tilting kettle before taking a breath and sitting closest to Kurogiri on the couch. ' It would not be with the knowledge of most of the heroes, but if you reach out through a neutral party, Eraser Head or Fat Gum would be your best bet. '

"Why would we trust them?" Spinner sneered, glaring at Akira.

Steeling themself, Akira calmly explained, ' Calamity already has high opinions of Eraser Head. I can vouch for both of their morals and willingness to work with who it takes to achieve good. Both work with vigilantes, gangs, and on the extremely rare occasion, villains. '

"If we need to be stealthy about this around the heroes, Twice would be our best option," Magne offered, easing some of the tension as Twice looked up from a rubix cube.

"We'll do what it takes to get her out," Twice said with a nearly calm voice, undercurrents of anger clawing their way to hint at the surface. "We can't let her lose herself," he snapped as the anger boiled through.

"I've worked with Eraser Head before," Dabi added, eyes distant but hard. "I'll reach out through our mutual and should have a meeting by tomorrow."

The League turned to Shigaraki, whose fiddling had frozen. After a moment, he finally noticed and glared at them, "What?"

' You're the boss, are you on board? ' Akira asked, searching his expression.

"What he's doing to her isn't normal," he said slowly. After a moment, Akira's brows shot up as they realized it was more of a question. Looking to Magne, she seemed to have the same realization, which explained why Kurogiri stayed quiet. He scowled and bit out, "Yeah, you can team up to grief them. Just don't get yourselves killed."

Akira looked questioningly to Kurogiri, noticing while the others started hashing out details that his mist was fluctuating again, albeit more subtly than before. They shifted closer to the nomu, who briefly met their eyes and seemed to settle somewhat. Akira subtly angled themself so the others would have a harder time watching and asked, ' Are you okay? '

Kurogiri pointedly looked at Shigaraki but didn't say anything. Akira gave them a searching look before sighing and turning back to the group. They did a double take as they realized Shigaraki's shoes weren't just red. As they got ready to leave, Akira stopped Kurogiri. ' Can I speak with you a moment after you warp them? ' He glanced to Shigaraki before nodding.

Akira gestured for him to sit while they poured another cup. ' Remember how I said I'd look into your base? '

The yellow eyes narrowed slightly before Kurogiri responded, "Yes."

' I'm almost certain I found him, Oboro Shirakumo, ' Akira gently signed. ' I saw glimpses of him when we officially met, and his quirk lines up with the others that comprise Warp Gate. ' Kurogiri tensed slightly but said nothing, his mist stable. After a long moment, Akira hesitantly asked, ' I don't know what's going on with you, but is Oboro still in there? '

"I need to go," Kurogiri abruptly stood and warped away.

"That went well," Dabi snarked and caught a throw pillow.

Akira rolled their eyes, ' Like you had a better idea. He deserved to know. I need to put a presentation together for Monday so am heading to Claws of Coffee for a couple hours. '

"Fancy," Dabi smirked, earning an elbow to the side.

Akira grabbed their backpack, hesitating a moment before shaking their head and dumping out what they didn't need onto the coffee table. ' Just don't spill anything on my textbooks while I'm out. ' The small cat café had a student discount and someone – they were pretty sure Aizawa – had set up a tab to charge the first hour for any U.A. student. The Wi-Fi was free and the cats friendly, so Akira curled up with a mug of hot chocolate and a three-legged tabby on their lap while fending off a couple others from their drink.

Kintsugi, the art of filling cracks in pottery with metal-dusted lacquer, had instantly appealed to them when Kayama went over it the previous week. The idea of recognizing trauma as a fundamental part of yourself and accepting it to the point of showcasing it seemed a distant future, but one that Akira could appreciate.

On Monday, Aizawa passed homework back with a note for a lunch meeting in his office. Akira quirked a brow at the delivery method but easily slipped back into reviewing their notes for the presentation. Glancing at Fumikage's, a small smile slipped onto their face at the gothic art. The only surprise in art styles people presented was Todoroki, who talked about ice sculptures in the age of quirks. He even created a small, somewhat detailed cat as an example to Kayama's delight.

Akira slipped into Aizawa's office with their bento box, mildly surprised to see Yamada already there. Their gaze flicked to him curiously as they sat in what had become their usual comfy chair.

"I don't want to intrude on your meeting much," Yamada smiled softly, not quite reaching his eyes. "I was just a little worried about your topic, you know?" Curiosity piqued, Akira gestured for him to continue. "FQM is a dark topic, and not many people know about it in the first place. Are you sure you'll be okay researching and writing about it?"

Akira nodded firmly, pushing down the knot of anxiety that started to form. ' It's something I know a lot about, and a couple people have already offered to do interviews under aliases. I'll be fine. '

"Okay, I'll leave you two it then," Yamada lightly brushed Aizawa's fingers with his own as he headed out.

"There are two things I want to discuss with you today," Aizawa started, pulling a file out of his desk. "Academically, we're starting espionage training this week." Akira perked up, mind already racing with possibilities. "There will be teams of four students trailing another student. Each squad's goal is to intercept or capture evidence of as many information passes their target makes as possible. The fifth's goal is to make as many information passes to their teacher 'contact' by the end of the week. Friday we'll review how everyone did, and next week we'll rotate and start doing shorter exercises. Would you be more comfortable starting with a squad or against one?"

My quirk is well-suited for either, giving my pair or my squad an edge against the others , Akira pondered. It would be easier, though, for people not to be aware of my tricks if I start solo . After a moment more of consideration, they nodded, ' I'd be fine with either, but starting with a squad would provide a good challenge for the second phase. '

"I thought you might pick that. I already gave Kirishima and Tokoyami their packets, and the rest of class will get them later today," Aizawa grinned slightly and made a note in the file and handed it over. He turned more serious as he put the file back, however. "Good choice going through a broker in case of follow-up. I'm not sure if Dabi told you, but we plan for Koda to smuggle a spider in with Dabi to get confirmation of Eri's location."

' He didn't say, but that sounds good, ' Akira nodded along. They frowned as they recalled Saturday. ' I'm concerned about Calamity. He was already showing a couple red flags for abuse, and he seemed confused that what Overhaul is doing to Eri isn't normal. '

Aizawa stiffened minutely, staring at his desk before carefully asking, "Do you think Oboro..."

Akira hesitantly shook their head, separating their teeth from their lip with their tongue when they noticed the pressure turned into needle-like discomfort. ' No, we don't think so at least. While Calamity grew up, though, Loud Cloud would've been trying to survive, too. If he wasn't forced to be an active participant, he probably had to watch or at least take care of the kid in the aftermath. ' They hesitated, knowing what they could share would normally get them thrown out of Quirkless communities.

If Shigaraki was young enough, he might not even remember before, Akira reasoned with themself. Pressing their mouth into a thin line, they looked back to Aizawa, whose gaze had morphed into concern. 'I also have reason to believe Calamity was Quirkless and was either given a quirk or underwent FQM.'

"You did confirm All for One's use of traffickers," Aizawa murmured, eyes darkening. "Midoriya recently shared that Tomura's last name was originally Tenko as the grandson of the seventh holder of One for All."

Akira hissed in a breath. ' That would explain it. And All for One's wording on his offers. ' At Aizawa's concerned brow raise, Akira continued, ' He said my presence would be a blemish on hero society, like Calamity. ' Checking the time, Akira stood to head out but paused at the door. ' I think I'm ready to bring Loud Cockatoo into this if you're both fine with it. '

Aizawa's gaze softened as he smiled slightly. "Zashi's been hoping he's read your cues correctly. Would you like to be there or do you want me to fill him in?"

' I'll be there, ' Akira signed before their nerves could lead them otherwise. ' I do want you there, too. '

"Always."

After picking up Kirishima, the pair headed to the train station. Akira nodded slightly in appreciation as they picked up on his more alert posture. It wasn't to the degree they could slack off, but Akira at least didn't have to worry about him missing obvious threats. They spent the train ride reviewing their espionage packets, comparing their targets and teams. Akira, Aoyama, Ojiro, and Hitoshi would be facing Shoji while Kirishima, Sato, Fumikage, and Yaoyorozu would be facing Ida. The solo students didn't have their teacher contact listed, and the teams would get extra credit if they identified the teacher-student pairings.

"I get some are going into underground and twilight heroics, but why do all of us need to learn this?" Kirishima mused as they went over the basic tailing formation diagrams. While they would go over them in class, each student had a visual representation for those who needed it and for memory.

' Not everyone has decided yet, ' Akira shook their head in amusement. ' And it's still a valuable skill for limelights. Especially if you want to do any work with underground heroes. You can go through intelligence heroes, but you need to at least know how to identify tails and move stealthily in order to have lines open. '

Kirishima startled a bit, curiosity shining brightly in his eyes. "Really? I thought underground was mostly avoiding media and taking night shifts."

Akira laughed at that, staring in disbelief at the redhead. ' No, not at all. It's a very different set of villains, and anyone undergrounds are close to are at higher risk. Daylight villains mostly won't go after family and friends, but underground the stakes rise exponentially. Undergrounds mostly avoid limelights because they don't care enough and/or don't have the training to operate in our sphere. '

"How do you know so much about this stuff anyways?" Kirishima mused after some time.

Subtly checking for anyone listening or watching, Akira was grateful the attention had dropped off for the most part. ' My living situation was... unstable before the first round of internships. I learned how to notice and lose tails and how to follow people without being noticed. I didn't have the proper names like this, but I got the general gist. '

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 14: Trials and Tributes

Summary:

The media was abuzz with the first day of Endeavor's trial. Reporters were pressed against the gates of U.A. trying to get any scoop from any students caught outside. Akira shook their head at the vultures' antics broadcasted on the tv, glad they wouldn't have to deal with the nonsense until the following day. They slid a bowl of cold soba to Shouto when he came down a little later than usual.

' How are you holding up? ' Akira asked, returning their focus to fixing their own bowls of soba with broccoli and beef.

"Fine," Shoto said distantly. He mostly pushed his noodles around until Akira gently tapped a nail against the counter to bring his focus back.

' You should try to eat something, ' they prodded and sat down next to him. ' I figured something light would be easy on your nerves. If anyone bothers you, we'll sic Animal Whisper and Dark Shadow on them. '

That drew a small smile out of Shouto, who slowly nibbled his way through breakfast. Dabi was with the Blue Fang with an excuse of personal business to the League since Akira couldn't be there for him. The kids wouldn't be testifying for another two weeks, and Dabi would be last from what Akira understood. With the severity of the charges, it would be a saiban-in trial where six random members of the public would pass judgment with the three professional judges.

Homeroom and English passed largely in tense quiet, even the loud members of class subdued knowing the opening statements happening in the city proper. In Classic Literature, Cementoss tried to engage the class in discussion over the current chapters a few times before sighing.

"I understand the trial today is weighing heavily on everyone's minds. I have a few topics I was going to open the floor to tomorrow, but we can do that today instead."

Akira looked up from their notes, curiosity sparking as the teacher wrote on the whiteboard.

Cementoss checked over his shoulder after each to no hands raised. After the fourth, Akira's hand shot up and he smiled, gesturing for them to go ahead. ' Number four ties into number three a bit, right? Globalization through the Internet of Things brought together linguists and programmers from across the world to improve translations by hand and algorithms for doing so automatically. '

"That's right!" Cementoss encouraged. "The first decade or so of online translation services relied on word-by-word translations or heavily fact-checked translation of sentences. Google Translate was popular among amateur translators, but at that time had low accuracy. Even when neural machine translation was introduced to the engine, translations that required more than one step quickly decreased in accuracy."

Kaminari raised their hand, head tilted in the endearing way that brought a slight blush to Hitoshi's cheeks. "Why would you need two steps to translate a language?"

Akira jumped in, ' Some languages don't translate well directly, like Latin to Japanese kanji. Usually it has to do with complex forms of words translating to more visual languages. In that example, you translate Latin to English then to Japanese. Each Latin noun has twelve forms and each verb has a hundred and... thirty-something. '

"Exactly! Many struggle to learn Latin in the first place due to its number of declensions and conjugations, so it's rare to find someone else who speaks it. It's been considered a dead language for centuries. Did you use Ecce Romani for the basics?"

Akira sighed in exasperation, ' Yes, I still don't understand how someone could drag out a family being stuck in a ditch for ten goddamn chapters. '

The discussion continued on with advancements in deep learning algorithms and the increased accessibility in closed captioning and translation services. The emergence of Tinker quirks caused a surge in technological advancement with their innate understanding of how things worked and how new technology could work with access to the right materials and people.

Akira sprinted into Ground Beta from their makeup therapy session and made their way to the parkour section. While any of the roofs could be used, this sector had additional obstacles.

' Sorry I'm late, the... ' Akira trailed off as they saw Midoriya running the course with Hitoshi.

Aizawa waved them off, "You already said therapy might run long, so your tardiness is acceptable. Midoriya relies on his quirk too much for underground work."

Akira nodded as they slipped on their snack harness. ' Costume or no? ' they asked as they warmed up. Aizawa shook his head while shooting them a look of fond exasperation.

"You did good, asking Midoriya to talk with me," Aizawa said quietly after a moment. "Thank you for trusting me."

A small smile slipped onto their face as Akira watched Midoriya catch his breath next to Hitoshi on the last low building of one of the easy courses. ' If you could understand Peppermint and me, you could understand Broccoli. Did you notice anything off about the Bakugo or Kaminari family when you talked about the dorms? '

Aizawa frowned, "I've already spoken with both. The Kaminari's needed some guidance, and the Bakugo's are being handled."

' Were you able to find anything on Toga? ' Akira asked, standing back up from toe touches.

His expression softened and looked distant for a moment. "She's in custody of the state, and Tsukauchi opened an investigation of her parents. She's in a psych ward right now and is starting to stabilize physically. Kan is thinking about taking her in once we know more about her situation."

Once Aizawa critiqued the other two's technique a bit, Akira started towards the medium difficulty. Over the past couple months, they'd been getting more used to heights, and their stomach didn't swoop quite as much when they happened to look over the edge of a building. While wearing their costume would improve their mobility, Aizawa insisted they stick with gym clothes until he's confident enough in their footwork that they won't trip on the tassels.

Akira grinned as they took in the next jump, carefully examining the side of the building for windowsills, small balconies, and tiny ledges they could use for leverage as Midoriya and Hitoshi pulled up beside them. Once they had a solid pathing, they turned to the other two. ' Who's first? '

"How are we supposed to get up that without quirks?" Midoriya gaped.

Hitoshi chuckled and gave a sharp nod as he settled on a path. "The handholds are smaller on this one, so if you're not confident, you can go around. There's a less challenging building two blocks up and one to the right."

Challenge sparked in Midoriya's eyes as he shook his head. Turning back to the tall building, he muttered up a storm, eyes darting across the side. Aizawa watched them like a hawk while leaning against an access hutch a few streets over, hidden carefully in the shadows. Akira gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, knowing he could easily get close enough if a safety measure failed.

Midoriya's brow crinkled in frustration as he kept looking over one section. Akira waved to get his attention and signed, ' What's got you stumped? Blank and I have our paths, and we can nudge you in the right direction. '

As Midoriya described his series of jumps and hooks, Akira traced its path up the building. They let him finish before checking in with Hitoshi, who bore a knowing look and gestured to them. Akira guided Midoriya's eyes to a few steps back and showed where he veered off. ' Your first path was a good instinct but is meant for quirk and support item use. You might be able to do it since you prioritize mobility and your legs, but it would be risky. Now, Blank or I should go up first in case you need a little help at the top. Blank, are you comfortable doing that? '

Aizawa stood a little straighter as Hitoshi backed up to take a shot, stretching one more time before sprinting towards the obstacle. There was a brief moment when they teetered on a ledge but caught himself before making the last few jumps to the roof. Hitoshi let out a loud whoop before peeking over the edge and waving Midoriya up.

Midoriya flapped his hands as he jittered backwards, hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation. Akira carefully tracked his movements, ready to step in if he wasn't quite up to it. Just because there were safety nets that would extend when in parkour mode didn't mean it didn't hurt to fall. Green lightning briefly spread across his arms before Midoriya sucked it back in and darted forward. He made it to the first few platforms well enough, his short combat boots thankfully providing more traction than his Primordial shoes.

Akira frowned and took a step forward as Midoriya started to lose momentum halfway up. He hissed as his hand collapsed and lost grip on the next handhold. Midoriya fell backwards, and the safety net shot out between the two buildings. Aizawa was already on the move to them, watching as Midoriya landed squarely inside the area, the material providing a bit of bounce to lessen the impact.

"Are you okay, Midoriya?" Aizawa called out as he lowered himself to the nearby balcony set there for that purpose.

"Fine, my hand just gave out," Midoriya muttered, slowly making his way to the edge. Akira peered over the edge and took in the couple bruises and scraped up hand.

Once everyone was back on ground level, Akira cocked their head at Midoriya. ' Why didn't you activate your quirk? Your reaction time is fast enough, and it could've gotten you to a balcony at least. '

Midoriya shook his head in confusion, eyes darting between them and Aizawa. "But Aizawa-sensei said no quirks...?"

Shoving down the anger, Akira went to clarify when Aizawa sighed. "Problem Child, if you're in danger, you are allowed- no, you will use your quirk if it removes or mitigates the danger. When I or any teacher say no quirk usage, the intention is never to harm you or to allow you to get harmed."

Midoriya slowly nodded, confusion still clouding his eyes. Aizawa led them in cooldowns before they headed back to the dorm. Kaminari jumped up from the couch and rushed over, nearly tripping over themself in excitement. "Hey! Mina, Tsu, Uraraka, and I are having a fems and thems night! Any of you interested?" he chattered on with a bright grin.

A little confused but curious, Akira shrugged. ' Sure? Do I need to bring anything? '

"Nope! Mina's got all the good stuff, so just head to her room when you're ready."

Midoriya was too tired and Hitoshi uninterested, so after a quick shower, Akira took the stairs to Mina's room on the fourth floor. Her door was open, and inside was an array of nail polish, makeup, small colorful bags, snacks, and movies. Mina painted Kaminari's nails black and purple while Uraraka braided Tsu's hair. Akira awkwardly stood in the doorway for a moment before knocking.

Mina lit up, "You came! Sit anywhere, Mori. Feel free to grab snacks, a face mask, or whatever. We were just getting started. Oh, and feel free to close or pull the door to, whichever you're more comfortable with."

' Thanks for inviting me. ' Akira pulled the door to and looked around at the clashing prints and vibrant color scheme. It took them a moment to place the colorful packages as face masks since they could figure out at least generally what the other items were. Akira politely nibbled on some mochi and sat seiza while they read the mask instructions.

"Sooo, have you asked Hitoshi out yet?" Mina cooed, waggling her eyes at Kaminari.

" Mina ," they whined, "come on, they probably don't even like me that much. Toshi and I are just friends."

Akira snorted and looked over in disbelief, setting their mochi on a napkin to sign. ' Blank? Not like you? You were hanging out in their room just yesterday. He hates sharing their personal space with very few exceptions. It took him weeks to get comfortable with small touches, and you're leaning on each other all the time. '

Kaminari's blush grew as they signed until he ducked their face into his shirt, trying to hide it without their hands free. Akira took pity on him and stopped, raising an eyebrow as Uraraka tried to hide her laughter and Tsu looked amused.

"We told you so, ribbit," Tsu commented as Uraraka finished the French braid. "Mina knows about love."

"Hell yeah I do!" Mina pumped her free fist. "After all, I got you two together, didn't I?"

Uraraka blushed as Akira looked at the couple in surprise. I guess they have been spending more time together since the summer camp , they mused. Akira slowly opened the little package, careful not to tear the thin coconut oil mask.

"Ribbit, have you used a face mask before?" Tsu asked while Mina gushed about Kirishima and Katsuki.

Akira sheepishly shook their head, ' I haven't done any of this before. '

Mina gasped dramatically, both hands pressed to her chest after she loosely put the applicator back into the polish. "'That's criminal! Girl or fems and thems nights are the best. We need to get on this stat," she grew serious as Akira pulled back slightly at the intensity.

They looked to Kaminari, who had a fond grin on their face. ' I'll add that to the list? ' Akira hesitantly signed.

Tsu cocked her head slightly as Mina powered on, "Now, your hair isn't long enough to do much, but do you know your curl pattern? I do have some extensions we could play with if you're 2C, and I've heard that flattens out pretty easily with product."

Akira shrugged, ' No? I think it's pretty straight, though. It just got a bit of bounce once I cut it short. '

"Curses," Mina pouted, drawing giggles from the others and a confused grin from Akira. "A couple friends in middle school were Latinx, so I got these for makeovers. How about nail polish? I have so many colors."

As Mina showed off a selection that would go with their color scheme, a neon purple caught Akira's eye. ' Would this work? ' they hesitantly signed. ' It might match my eyes. '

"It does," Tsu piped up. "Mina also has a sparkly silver if you want to want to go all in."

Mina gasped and whipped around to find it, comparing the two against Akira's eyes before nodding. "These are perfect! Great eye," she beamed. "Since you haven't painted your nails before, don't be afraid to stop me if you're feeling uncomfortable or hate how it turns out. No hard feelings, we're here to experiment!"

Mina gently took Akira's left hand and started with a trim, lightly scolding them over the state of their brittle nails and explaining how to take better care of them. When she started to file their nails, Akira quickly pulled back at the bizarre sensation, and Mina easily switched to a clipper without pausing the conversation.

"Oh! We should put a movie on now that everyone's here," Uraraka scooted forward cross-legged to survey the options. "We've got rom coms, Disney... Mina, why are there horror films?"

"Those were my suggestion!" Kaminari grinned. "I brought some that are so bad they're funny. Oh! And a classic, Cabin in the Woods. Mori, are you in the mood for anything?"

Mina let go of their hands so they could respond, ' I've only seen documentaries and a couple adventure movies, so whatever everyone else wants is fine. '

Uraraka gasped, "Not even a nihon date?" At Akira's confusion, she continued, "Once a month, small theaters around here do a double feature for 1000 yen. I thought that was pretty common across Japan."

Akira shrugged awkwardly, lightly worrying their bottom lip. ' I didn't go out of the house as a kid, and I couldn't spare that when I moved here. ' They forced themself to ignore the confusion and concern that crept onto Uraraka's face, instead focusing on Kaminari.

"Can we watch Cabin in the Woods then?" Kaminari buzzed in excitement. "It's more comedy than horror but will still give you a taste of both."

By the end of the movie, Akira was very confused but intrigued by the concept. At some point, they'd shifted to sit more informally once their legs protested the cramped pressure. Mina and Kaminari had showed them how to contour their face depending on whether they were feeling more masc or fem on a given day since Akira was only familiar with traditional feminine makeup. Kaminari ended up in one of Mina's skirts and goth makeup before they all switched to face masks and skincare by the end of the night.

"Sooo I know the lovebirds are staying over, but Denks and Mori, are you down for a sleepover?" Mina asked, excitement dancing in her eyes.

"Totally!" Kaminari cheered as they flopped dramatically into a pile of pillows.

Akira hesitated, unsure of the group but not wanting to disrupt whatever rituals were usually part of such nights. Kami, I'm starting to think like Fumikage . Kaminari caught their eyes with his own blown wide in excitement, and they caved. ' Sure, I'm just going to grab a couple things. ' As they got off the elevator, they sagged in relief to see Hitoshi coming out of his room.

' Oh, thank kami, ' Akira quickly explained the situation.

Hitoshi nodded along sagely and asked, "Just making sure I got the gist. You had a good time at the party, Mina asked you to stay, you don't want to but agreed because of Denki's puppy eyes?"

' Yes? Kind of? ' Akira paused as Hitoshi reminded them to breathe. ' Am I supposed to stay? I don't want to ruin the night, but I might do that anyways with the nightmares. '

"I don't know Tsu and Uraraka as well, but Mina definitely wouldn't mind either way and Denki didn't mean to be pushy. If you don't want to go back up, they'd all understand," Hitoshi decided on. "And if they don't, I'll kick their asses."

Akira chuckled and grabbed their weighted blanket and Bastard plushie from their futon, tucking each under an arm as they rode back up. Maybe it won't be as bad with other people in the room?

Notes:

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 13: Familiar Faces

Summary:

Fat Gum, Mortis, and Suneater headed back to the agency after filling out reports, including a property damage one for Red Riot. He beamed from what sounded like a good debut, soaking in the praise from Fat Gum and the civilians he'd helped. Fat Gum sent the possible tie to Shie Hassaiki to Sir Nighteye, who called the hero mere moments later.

Fat Gum picked up with Bluetooth, curiosity plain on his face. "Sir Nighteye, always a pleasure. What can I do for you?" During the pause, his face grew tighter and his expression stormy. "They did what? Are your interns alright?"

Mortis jolted to attention from reading the lab report. They couldn't make out Sir Nighteye's voice on the other end, but their entire focus turned to the call.

Fat Gum gave a thumbs up after a moment and signed, ' Nighteye wants analysis on scars from body cam footage. Yes or no? '

Mortis immediately signed yes. A few minutes after hanging up, Mortis watched the file, noting the small stature and bandages mostly covering a little girl's arms and legs. The footage must've been from Le Million's costume since they could see Anima in the frame. The bandage on her leg was dirty, so Le Million started to check it when a tall, masked figure came into view in the alleyway. Pausing the footage, Mortis started to look at the scars when the figure registered in their mind. They pulled back and looked up in shock.

' Why is he asking me to analyze when Overhaul is right there? ' Mortis asked, anger coiling tightly as pieces started to slide into place.

"He didn't say, but if this girl has to do with the new bullets..." Fat Gum fought to keep the fury out of his own voice.

Mortis sharply nodded and sketched what they could make out of the scar, drawing a few of the standard patterns for such quirks off to the side before comparing them with the footage. Since it was from a bodycam, the quality made it difficult to make out the details of the scar, but nothing was quite matching up. It had some indications of cellular deconstruction, but the shapes almost looked displaced. Could be repeatedly removed tissue via deconstruction... Some extraneous lines could be read as more structural, but they seemed too large for such a small scar. Mortis took a moment to lean back in the chair and reset before refocusing on the bigger picture of her body.

The little girl's face contorted in sheer terror, tugging at Mortis' heart as they picked out some thin scar lines that followed the shape of her facial muscles. Structural lines on hands were too easily mistaken for natural contour of the hand but combined with the other patterns Mortis could make out, it didn't paint a pretty picture.

Mortis pulled the lab results back over, noting the presence of human blood. They finished the tape with a small measure of relief as Anima sent a few birds to follow the pair. Mortis took a steadying breath before sliding the report across. ' Given the timing, hopefully this is what tomorrow's meeting is about. Once she's in protective custody or we get new information, I could try to confirm what was taken. It most likely is her Quirk factor, but that much repetition is either indicative of extensive testing or a large distribution size. Given the symptoms, it's possible her quirk is Trump primary, but it would be odd for Overhaul's quirk to then work on her. The other likely option would be Breaker.

From her reaction to Overhaul pulling off his glove, she is very aware of his quirk and has experienced it before with pain. '

"Can you tell how long he's been doing this?" Taishiro asked gently, not bothering to hide his concern for them.

Akira shook their head even as they tried to come up with a rough estimate. There were just too many variables, especially with the scars overlapping so much. ' Overhaul has used his quirk multiple times to deconstruct her body on a structural level to separate her systems, remove tissue on a cellular level, and reconstruct her. If I get a closer look, I might be able to tell how many times he's done it, but age would be unreliable from visual inspection alone. '

"That's horrific," Kirishima muttered as he looked over the drawings. "How do you know so much about scars like this?"

Akira grimaced and fidgeted with their capture scarf for a moment. ' It's something I picked up, ' they finally settled on. Kirishima looked at them oddly for a moment before shuddering and going back to the reports. Amajiki quietly walked him through how to interpret the data and quickly find relevant information, as he and Taishiro had explained during Akira's internship.

[VIOLENCE START]

"Maybe you can finally figure out what's wrong with her," Eichi groaned as he threw Akira to the floor. "We've tried everything, and not even a trace of Trump or Tinker has triggered."

Kono sighed, removing his gloves. "What, is something wrong with her twin? She should've been discarded by now."

Eichi scowled as Akira glared at the floor. "No, but she must have powerful latent abilities if they haven't manifested yet. Our line doesn't produce duds."

"Fine, fine," Eichi waved dismissively as he laid out a Tinker-enhanced sheet on the ground. "Come back in a week. She'll be dead, have a quirk, or be useless by then."

Akira balled their hands into fists, fingernails drawing blood as they tried to get control of their breathing. Everyone knew Manu Wren. Everyone knew his suspects never failed to talk. What only the family knew was how. Only the family knew how many children vanished after a week under his quirk. Only Ten Trumps and the strongest Brutes emerged.

Eichi tsked and pulled their fingers away from their palms as Akira gasped in agony as the burning vibrations under their skin guided the movement. He sighed, "Of course they removed the only interesting part of the process. Get on the table or I'll make you."

Akira stumbled forward to comply, only to silently scream as the white-hot vibrations shifted them so wrongly onto the table. Everything was moving underneath their skin, each nerve not even on fire but being ripped to and fro. They tried to catch their breath as their vision blinked back into focus on the table.

"You'll learn," Eichi breathed next to their ear. "Nothing moves without my doing around here." Their world exploded into pain as their right arm started vibrating apart layer by layer. Akira silently screamed, air helplessly hissing past their lips as not even unconsciousness could embrace them.

[VIOLENCE END]

(summary: Akira's first experience with a deconstruction/construction quirk)

Akira jolted awake in a cold sweat, panting heavily as they threw off the blankets and took stock of their limbs. They shuddered, phantom pain rippling through their body from the nightmare memory. Knowing they wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after one that bad, Akira thought wistfully that at least they'd have breakfast with the morning shift again. On their way to the cafeteria, Kirishima fell into step with them.

"Nervous about the meeting?" Kirishima grinned brightly. Akira shrugged noncommittally, not up to talking yet. Taking the hint from the mornings they occasionally spent together in the dorms, Kirishima went quiet and gave them a half step more space.

After they grabbed food, Akira navigated the pair to the morning shift's table where Mouse was already bouncing with excitement. "Hey kids! We heard you have a big meeting today. You excited? It's not often Sir Nighteye does full teamups."

"Definitely!" Kirishima pumped a fist after sitting down. "It's gonna be so manly working with more pros."

Akira snorted when Gust muttered under his breath about another sunshine kid. Mouse went on about interagency teamups and some interesting interactions fae'd had with limelights. Not being walked over without showing off too much was a fine line fae had to learn over the years. Once the shadows of their past retreated enough to focus on the conversation, Akira waited for a pause in Mouse's story. ' Mouse, how do your shifts interact with injuries? '

The diminutive hero lit up. "Glad you could join us! They aren't affected much, fortunately. The location sometimes shifts, and it hurts like a bitch, but I got lucky with that."

Akira nodded thoughtfully, ' Full animal shift quirks are pretty rare. I'm not sure if it's the forced manifestation or the quirk subtype, but most of the ones I've seen come with a hefty amount of chronic pain as well. '

"Pretty sure it's the quirk type," Mouse wilted a little, some of the oomph fading from faer voice. "I know other animal-type quirks have that as well with the anatomy changes."

A couple hours later, Mortis and Red Riot headed to Sir Nighteye's agency with Fat Gum and Suneater. Mortis immediately locked eyes with Eraser Head before noting the assortment of heroes who predominately stayed in localized areas. Their jaw locked at seeing Trophaeum with Nova. Probably a way to get around potential Wren bans , Mortis thought sourly.

A few minutes later, Ryukyu walked in with her students in tow as the last group needed. As Sir Nighteye brought them to a conference room, Mortis kept an eye on Trophaeum, although their twin didn't seem interested in talking this time. They couldn't make out any new injuries, but if nothing else, their family was good at hiding and disguising abuse.

The other interns asked various questions of their mentors as Bubble Girl and Centipeder started the briefing. Rock Lock grew increasingly agitated and said, "Even if they're from U.A., why are there kids here? We'll never get anywhere with them here. The sun'll set before we get to the actual plan."

Fat Gum abruptly stood, nearly knocking over his chair. "Don't say that! These three have super important information!" He shot back. With Sir Nighteye's prompt, Fat Gum continued to explain their presence due to the suspected drug activities.

Eraser Head continued with the differentiation between his quirk and the formula, as his merely disabled the transmitters in the quirk genes. Fat Gum went over what they knew of the formula and the Trigger link to Shie Hassaiki.

"Umbra Mortis also found a more direct link, correct?" Sir Nighteye prompted.

' Yes, if you'll go to the next slide, please. ' Mortis stood, signing a little broader so it was more visible from across the room. The next slide showed their scar pattern breakdown. ' The villain Red Riot captured had evidence of a deconstruction/construction quirk being used on his arm at a cellular level in the past 2-3 months. The precision and lack of rejection from his body is indicative of at least ten years of training, which is supported by the bank robber incident and the body cam footage from Le Million. The only known people in Japan with that experience are Manu Wren, a retired limelight, and Overhaul. The first two would not be sloppy enough to leave the scar in an obvious place, while the third is cocky enough. '

"Are they really teaching that at U.A.?" Nova seemed disturbed, if not a bit impressed.

' No, scar identification has long been a hobby of mine, ' Mortis explained away. At least the extra time that morning let them come up with a reasonable excuse.

Sir Nighteye pulled up the next slide, a picture of Overhaul as he introduced the man. "Chisaki has a daughter named Eri. There are no records or details about her birth, but when Le Million and Anima encountered her, she had a large number of bandages wrapped around her arms and legs."

As the heroes realized the implications, Rock Lock asked with a pained expression, "Are you sure we need the kids? I'll only say this once. We're wondering if this Chisaki bastard is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them."

"We don't actually know if he's selling them," Sir Nighteye corrected even as most of the kids froze at the omission. "At their current stage, the efficacy is still too uncertain. However, if they're at the test stage, and he's using them as samples to gather more to his cause... There is little hard evidence, but he's gathering people and funds across the nation. If the completed drug would be able to completely destroy someone's Quirk? I'm sure they'll have many ideas for crimes using this."

As Fat Gum raged, Rock Lock turned slightly to Anima. "Wouldn't this have been resolved already if those two had just taken the child?"

"I take full responsibility for what happened," Sir Nighteye insisted. "Anima did send animals to track the two back to the nearby Shie Hassaiki compound, and others informed him of underground tunnels beneath the complex. None could enter, but for now, the girl is there."

"That girl's the crux the young head will want to hide, right? She got out because of some kind of trouble. On top of that, some kid heroes saw her," Rock Lock pointed out. "You think he'll just keep her at home? I wouldn't if I were him."

"That is the problem," Sir Nighteye let his arms rest flat on the table. "Since we don't know how far their plans have gotten, we have one chance to strike when it counts. To that end, we have found groups with connections to the Hassaiki or land owned by the Hassaiki and made as thorough a list as possible. I want you to investigate each of these locations and narrow the list down to possible locations."

"This is too roundabout!" Fat Gum burst. "While we're takin' our time, that little girl, Eri, is probably cryin'!"

While Sir Nighteye emphasized the need for planning and analysis, Mortis took in the horrified looks of the heroes and students. Bitterness swelled up at the chance they never got as a child, but they quickly swallowed it down before it could show on their neutral face. Mortis did note a hint of confusion in Trophaeum's eyes, and oh how they wished she would ask the question that these investigations had to bring up among the family. "No one talks about these punishments in public" my ass , Mortis inwardly seethed.

Sir Nighteye briefly explained his quirk, which Mortis resisted jotting down and saw Deku trying the same. Excitement and curiosity shone in his sad eyes at the distraction, and if not for a light elbow from Siren, he probably would've started to mumble.

After the meeting ended, Eraser Head directed the students to wait at a table for a moment. Anima's usual quietness had turned sour and almost oppressive, so Mortis slid their chair a little closer to lean against his arm. ' If you need to talk or be distracted, I'm here, ' they offered. He smiled slightly but just nodded.

"Mortis, how did you know about those scars, ribbit?" Froppy asked, brow furrowed.

Mortis blinked up at her for a moment before signing, ' Like I said, hobby. '

"Why, ribbit?" she pressed.

Mortis huffed, ' It's good to know for victims, especially of abuse. ' When Froppy opened her mouth to continue, their gaze snapped up to her eyes coldly. ' If you're going to be blunt about this, don't do it in public. '

Eraser Head emerged from the elevator a few heavy minutes later. "Is this a wake or something?" he tried to lift the mood a bit. At Froppy's greeting, he gently corrected, "Oh, call me Eraser Head outside of school. I was going to recommend that your work studies be suspended today..."

A chorus of objections rose, driving Mortis' head down with a looming headache.

"You heard them say the League of Villains could be involved, right? That changes things. But you know, Deku, you still haven't regained my trust. Unfortunately, I'm sure that if I stop you now, you'll rush out again on your own." Eraser Head dropped into a crouch. "If you're going to do this, do this properly, Deku. Got that, problem child?" he lightly tapped the boy's chest with his fist.

The others found some comfort in Eraser's words even as Siren met Mortis' eyes with a concerned look. Realizing their frustration was seeping through, Mortis carefully reschooled their expression and noted no one else seemed to notice or at least react. With a Wren – even a young one – involved, things got a lot more complicated for abuse cases. Mortis could only hope whatever they found would start to get through to their twin. Then again, they would just reset her if it makes her visibly question them , Mortis thought bitterly as their headache only grew.

Akira ended up taking a half day after their headache turned into a migraine during Art History with Kayama. They spent most of the afternoon with their drapes drawn and a cold compress on their forehead. That night, knowing they badly needed to decompress, Akira sat cross-legged on their futon with a mug of tea and their collection of Catullus poems. A few minutes in, realization struck. Akira activated their coms and switched to speaker mode so they could catch errors and dropped words. They focused on speaking the Japanese translation, although occasionally English words slipped through. The poet's sentence structure was more like prose than poetry; the heart of it focused on the rhythm of speech instead of any rhyme scheme.

Thoroughly engrossed in their practice, Akira didn't hear the knocks on their door until a bird head popped through. In surprise, they looked up and said through the speaker, "feverish little whore." Immediately, they slapped a hand over their mouth and turned off their coms as Fumikage squawked, feathers ruffling. Bright red in embarrassment, Akira quickly signed, ' Not you! Sorry, sorry. It's from a poem. I was practicing waves to speech. I'm so sorry. '

"Can I come in?" Fumikage hesitantly asked as he tried to smooth his feathers. Dark Shadow emerged cackling and practically pulled him into the room at Akira's nod. "What manner of poem are you reading?"

Akira started to slide the book over when they remembered he couldn't read it. ' Most of the Latin poems that survived are epics or... sexy? ' At his confusion, Akira finger-spelled the word. ' Catullus is my favorite poet, but he mostly wrote the latter. '

Peering down at the book, Fumikage's feathers finally started to stay down. "May I join you? I thought to keep you company since you were battling demons today."

Akira snorted but gestured for him to sit. ' I still drop or change words since I'm trying to do sentences now, so some of the rhythm will be lost. ' They started from the beginning of that poem after turning their coms back on, "Flavor... Fav... Flavius , unless your delights were tasteless and incel, you'd... and inelegant, you'd want to tell, and couldn't silent... and couldn't be silent."

A few times, Fumikage got them more tea from downstairs while they took their frustration out with tone. After the second, he even came back with a cheese platter from Aoyama. Dark Shadow darted into the room during one of those trips to just cackle. Akira shook their head at the quirk's antics and continued reading until they heard an undignified squeak. Looking up, they sent a disappointed look to a still-cackling Dark Shadow as Hitoshi and Kaminari stood awkwardly in the doorway with Fumikage.

' Poetry. I wasn't asking you why you were delaying death, ' Akira explained with an eye roll. ' You can join or continue to Blank's room. '

The couple stayed for a bit before moving on, Kaminari giggling at the phrasing while Hitoshi blushed. Eventually, Akira put the book down and turned off their coms. ' That's about all I can stand for the night. Thanks for the company, ' they tiredly signed.

"Always," Fumikage chirped easily. He hesitated a moment, lingering on the edge of the futon. "Something happened today. I assume it has to do with your work studies but do tell us if we can do anything."

Akira nodded gratefully. ' I'll try, thank you. Being with you does help in general. '

Notes:

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