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aspenforest732 · 11 months ago

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Bello Licentiae Chapter 21: Dance Revolution

Summary:

tw: flashback mention, gang activity, police, missing person Tis the spoopy season :) 'text' JSL Text thoughts

"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:

"Hero too" was composed by Yuki Hayashi, Ayapeta wrote the lyrics, and Chrissy Costanza performed the song. Jiro mellows out in her treatment of other students in the anime at least, so figured Akira would give her another chance. Haru: don't actively hide it but y'know play it close to your chest Akira: got it, stay up all hours to find him and don't tell anyone Haru: ... Aizawa and Taishiro: wtf is going on

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