Pulled from his thoughts as he walked, he slowed his step and looked around till he saw Freya moving towards him. She asked about his injuries. To which he shrugged, about to say they are fine. But then she she said to tell her the truth. He felt his words caught in his mouth as he sniffed and rubbed his nose with the back of his right hand. Looking looking forward and away from her. He didn't know what to say. Of course he wasn't fine. He didn't even know why he was here today. He didn't belong here.

"I'm fine...leg is just a bit tight is all. He said with a smile, more genuine than previous attempts. He didn't want her to worry about him. I Just have a lot of things on my mind lately as well...Dont worry about it."

Worrying wasn't exactly something Freya could avoid. The look she gave him remained tender, although her words were blunter than they had been so far. "Look... I know you're not fine," she admitted. There. She'd said it, like she'd have had to sooner or later.

"Keri was right the other day, this... This isn't like you," she continued, lowering her voice to a whisper. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's ok, I'll respect that. But if you do..." A little reassuring smile spread over her face, the kind her mother wore when comforting her. "I'm here."

Slowly, she lifted her arm. While she recalled the searing shock all too well, there was no need to be skittish around him, no need to make him feel worse. This was the friend she trusted. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she hoped that trust would show through.

Renard looked at her again. When she said she knew he wasn’t fine. Going on to say if he wanted to talk about it she was there. He didn’t know what to say, only standing there conflicting actions running through his head.

It was when she she lifted her arm though. He looked down at it, it seemed almost in slow motion when she touched his shoulder. No electricity shot forth, he lowered his head. “ I was thinking you were afraid of me... now.” He said awkwardly, thinking back to their ride to school, while he did keep to himself, he didn’t want to scare her at all.

I just...” looking around he then continued “My mother was murdered seven years ago.... all that.... that blood. Those bodies... just reminded me how weak...” his right side of his face wincing as he rubbed the deep scar that went over his eye as it seemed to burn once again. “I-I...” he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Taking deep controlled breaths. Refusing to open his eyes out of fear of crying.

At first, all Freya could do was gape, wide eyes blinking. Murdered. His mother was murdered. He'd told her she'd passed away, but hadn't said more than that. The only sounds were footsteps in distant hallways and the steady thrum of the rain outside. Then Freya managed to speak.

"Oh god..." she muttered. "Oh geez, Renard, I had no idea..." She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. No wonder he'd reacted that way, seeing all that right in front of him again...

Her gaze travelled in the direction of his fingers, to the long jagged scar running down the right side of his face. A reminder, she thought with a wince of her own. "And you were hurt too." Truth be told, sometimes she'd wondered what her happy-go-lucky friend must have been through to have gotten such a wound. Between the scar and the way he barely spoke about his past, she'd suspected something she'd hated to think about - Renard must have had some much rougher experiences than he'd let on. And now it had all come to light in the most horrific of ways.

All because of her own stupidity.

Shivering at the full implication of what she'd done, she did the only thing she could think of. "Look at me," she said, lifting her hand from his shoulder, then holding out her arms. She wouldn't blame him if he refused, but he let her pull him into a hug. "That isn't hurting you, is it?" she asked, keeping her grip loose so she wouldn't set off any injuries. She'd hurt him enough by making him relive his worst memory.

"You're not weak," she said softly. "Please, don't say that about yourself." She glanced over her shoulder down the hallway, looking out for anyone who might overhear. "Come on, let's find somewhere to sit."

Renard hesitated only for a split second before he allowed her to pull him into a hug. He simply said no when she asked if she was hurting him. She then continued to say not to call himself weak. But that’s what he was. He couldn’t protect his mother... he couldn’t even properly protect Freya, or the others in class.

It might seem Arrogant of him to think he was stronger than the others, but he genuinely went through hard training for seven years to become strong enough to defeat the man who murdered his mother.... the man who was even stronger than his own father. He thought he was making progress because he was starting to keep up with his father in training... he must have been going easy on him.

He nodded simply and followed her to a bench nearby. Once there, he simply said “I am, freya.... mentally and physically. I couldn’t protect you or the others... and I’m certainly messed up... more than the others in class.”

“I have been working for seven years towards this. And I couldn’t do a thing.” He said

Sitting down next to him, leaving her backpack and lunch bag at her feet, Freya shook her head. "Stop. Stop saying that," she insisted. "You did protect people back there. Eira... and Sofia. If you hadn't knocked that fire extinguisher away..." She shuddered at the thought. "And you saved me. Shit, I'm sorry you had to, I'm so, so sorry it led to that... But thank you."

She pulled a packet of tissues from her bag and handed them to him. "It's ok if you need to cry," she reassured him. "It's not weakness, it's just what anyone would do. Yeesh, I don't blame you."

Moving closer, she put her arm around his shoulders, that nervousness gone. She hadn't exactly been afraid of him over the past few days. More like shaken from everything, although nowhere near to the extent that he had. All she could do now was be the friend he needed. A better friend than she'd been at the hospital. "I don't blame you for anything."

He was silent for a minute as he processed what she said. She did bring up some valid points. But to him, he felt it wasn’t enough. But he simply nodded silently.

He did shake his head in decline of the tissues. He honestly didn’t want to cry in school. And frankly he cried enough over the weekend. He stared at his hands for a moment, actually taking comfort from her arm around his shoulder.

He then softly said. “ I didn’t save you, if anything you saved me. I probably would be dead if you didn’t come back down and distracted that girl. I don’t blame you either so I don't know why you're saying sorry, I would do it again without a thought.”

Freya stared up at him. "But you did! If you hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't be here right now." She cringed at the memories of what had happened afterwards. His insistence that she shouldn't have tried to help. That he should stay behind so she and Eira could escape. Survivor's guilt? Had that played a part?

Her arm tensed around him. "Do you know how much you matter to people?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I mean, I'd do the same again, for you."

She closed her eyes. The conversation was just going round in circles, doubtlessly keeping Renard's memories of that day fresh and raw. Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, she looked at him again. "Think of what Keri said. About how we've only just started," she reminded him. "Even if you've been training for years, none of us have completed our training yet. That's what we're here for."

Standing up, she gathered her belongings. "If you want to practice some more, I'm sure we can use the gym right now." Normally she wasn't one to suggest a training session, the mere thought of practicing in front of others making her squirm. If it helped Renard, though, it would be more than worth it.

Renard sighed as she as she tried to confirm that he did save her. What she was saying was helping. Slightly. But this issue wasn't something that couldn't be fixed after one or two appreciated hugs or words of encouragement. She tried to say he still was still just learning and despite what she mean for, it only caused him to close up slightly inside. He listened to her silently, and was glad when she decided to offer training. Changing the subject.

How ever she hated training in front of the others, as he tried to get her to train with him many times before. The thought was appreciated and gave him a small smile. Thank you, Freya. For listening. We can go over there, but I don't want to aggravate my leg anymore than I absolutely need to. It seems like most of our classmates are heading that direction anyways. “

He stood up as well, and the duo walked towards the Gym. When he opened the door, he could hear them talking. Kerianne, Breeze and Eira were talking/ training. They just happened to walk in when Eira spoke up. She was one to be cold, to everyone. But did she literally forget about the three guards that were killed Friday? Growing a little irritated, he said loud enough for them to hear. ”Three people did. Staring at her with a hard glare. ”Also, Sofia, who almost died… is not coming back to school. I Meant to tell you earlier. But I didn’t see you at the hospital...

He pulled out her letter and added, ”She wrote me a letter before she was taken to another hospital. Placing it on the bench right next to him. Then adding flatly.feel free to read it... As he turned and started to limp slightly towards the bleachers. He sat down and sighed.placing his bag to the side.

He was trying to stretch out his tight leg as he did, and using the electricity he had generated while moving around to concentrate in that same leg. Using the heat caused by it to help sooth.

---

@Aviaire@Tenma Tendo@LuckyBlackCat@Heartfillia

Gabriella entered the gym just after Renard and Freya, and she was glad to see those two together. She was certain Freya was doing her best to help Renard build his emotional resilience - get him back to his normal self. She decided to leave that to Freya. It was clear from how Renard spoke to her the past Saturday at the hospital that the words didn't mean much coming from Gabby. She'd spent the weekend being pretty cross with the guy, but time heals plenty of wounds, and she ultimately wanted to help if she could.

Sometimes harsh words need to be said. But the time for that isn't now, she had decided over the weekend. Her workout on Sunday had helped immensely with that conclusion,

Of course, that didn't mean she suddenly had the patience to deal with the guy in his current state, which was evident as she felt her irritation with him bubble up as he shot his mouth off at Eira. As much as she could empathize, she would never agree with how he was acting. She wanted to be just as short with Renard as he seemed intent on being with everyone else.

Sometimes harsh words need to be said. But the time for that isn't now, she reminded herself.

Renard finished talking with Eira, announced to those present Sofia's departure, and then sat down on one of the bleachers, leaving the card Sofia had given him on the bench nearby. Her curiosity immediately grabbed, Gabby moved to the bench, picked up the card, and sat down to read it.

...

Gabriella returned the letter to its envelope and placed it back on the bench as she rose to her feet. Her fists clenched tight and her head hung. Rather than take the time to change out of her school uniform, she made her way over to the punching bag Kerianne had been using for her training. She stood before it for a moment, glowering at it. Imagining Renard's face on the front of it.

Renard...you moron! Don't you understand you're doing everything Sofia asked you not to do?!

In one motion, she pulled her right fist back, then sent it hurtling toward the bag's midsection. Her quirk activated at the moment of impact, sending the punching bag back, then up, and overhead. The bag had naturally been built with strength-enhancing quirks in mind, so it was not easy to break open or knock free of its chains, and it even had a weight system in its stand to prevent the entire thing from being knocked over.

In her fury, Gabriella didn't fully register how hard she had hit the bag, and was so absorbed with trying to calm herself down after the punch that she didn't get out of the way in time. The bag came down on her head, knocking her face-first into the floor and forcing a grunt of pain out of her. Luckily, the safety mat under her prevented her face from being smashed into the glossy hardwood of the gym floor, so she didn't suffer any real injury.

"...Heh...hah hah hah hah hah! Oops."

She felt her anger drain away as she mental image of what she'd just done to herself played out in her head. Yep, that's why she did her best to stay cool in a fight, because she tended to hurt herself when she got angry rather than others. She could only imagine how silly she must look to the other students. Oh boy.

---

---

@Tenma Tendo @Aviaire @Nyahahameha

Sitting up, Kerianne looked over as Breeze shuffled forward, followed by a perpetually grouchy Eira. Although some of the dazed feeling had passed, the blonde spread out her hands for support as she nodded, keeping herself from swaying. Showing vulnerability was something she'd refused to do from a young age. She trusted Breeze, as well as Eira despite the attitude, but some habits were too ingrained to break.

"Well, we were told not to take it lightly," she replied. "To put this time to good use." Breeze had the right idea, training her own Quirk by melding wooden blocks into her skin. Backing up her own words, Kerianne extended her leg, reaching for her toes, feeling her muscles stretch. Future heroes didn't just need to develop their Quirks, but their physical skills in general. In her case, her balance and maneuverability. And as much as the others pushed themselves, she needed to push hardest of all. To have any chance of being accepted as a pro hero, she had to truly prove her potential.

She frowned as Breeze wished aloud that things could go back to normal. "I do too," she said, her expression softening a little when she went on. "You know, someone told me true heroes support each other. Hopefully everyone will."

Of course, that was when Eira put in her rather snarky two cents. Slowly standing, Kerianne fixed that steely glare on her, hands on hips. "Was that really called for?" While she didn't shout, her words were no less sharp-edged for it. "I think you'll find the reports say..."

Just then, she noticed two other people heading over. Freya and Renard, the latter still not himself judging by his scowl and the blunt response he spat. While Kerianne had been about to say exactly that regarding the casualties, it just didn't sound right coming from him, stated that way. Exhaling loudly, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. What could she say to get through to him if nobody else had succeeded so far?

Eira and Renard weren't the only ones to get mad. Gabby, who'd followed shortly afterwards and read Sofia's letter, marched to the punching bag, launching such a hard repulsion-enhanced blow that it swung in a circle and whacked her to the ground. "Gabriella! What was that about?" Kerianne's tone held no accusation, only concern, as she hurried over. Gabby already knew about Sofia, so what had brought on such uncharacteristic anger in her too?

---

---

@Heartfillia @Aviaire @Nyahahameha

The timing couldn't have been worse as Freya and Renard entered the gym.

Several people had already gathered, including Eira, whose scathing comment made Freya cringe. "Christ, it's as if someone's died." The feline girl closed her eyes, as if that would dispel the images of the motionless forms, the viscous pool, Renard shaking and snapping as memories surfaced. She didn't need to look up at her friend to know how he'd respond.

The anger was clear in Renard's voice as he filled Eira in, not just on the deaths, but on Sofia. A fresh pang hit Freya like a scab torn open. Surely Eira cared at least a little? Her attitude was as chilly as her Quirk, but she'd shown traits of a true hero back there, putting Sofia first, sticking by her classmates to help in any way she could.

"Eiraaa..." Passing by, Freya gave her a slight grimace. "I'm glad you're ok, but do you have to be like this?" She followed Renard, sitting next to him on the bleachers. The stiffness had yet to fully ease from her right arm, so she leaned on her left one as she lounged on the steps, eyes still on Eira. "Can't you just, you know, chill a little?"

With that, she cast a hopeful glance at the person she'd emulated. His cue to join in. Freya had no illusions that she could fix everything - if she could even help at all - but had to try to bring out a trace of his usual self.

As she'd expected, the atmosphere indoors remained as heavy as outdoors, emphasised by the thud of the punching bag. "Ah! You ok there, Gabby?" Freya called, sitting up and staring at the wrestler, who lay face down on a mat, laughing off the blunder. Shoulders sagging with relief, the catlike girl gave a tight smile, but didn't laugh along. On any usual day, Gabby could expect playful teasing from Renard. Today, that wasn't going to happen.

Same old same old. The trip back to the prison was more of before, but this time Alcatraz was new and improved. While the exterior and the entrances were still as visually abandoned as ever, the inside was new and improved. This time, Quinn could see rooms that had been repaired, organised, and filled with basic necessities. The irony of living in a prison cell wasn't lost on her. Well, Quinn's kayfabe was still intact. So long as her identity as a villain and her identity as a person were separate, she could freely roam the streets. Some of her comrades couldn't, so it was much more of a gift than one could think.

Like before, she was first to arrive. She still wore her costume—demon mask, wig, and punkish attire—when she entered. This was more of a habit, though. It was easier to be a villain if you acted like one. To act like one, you had to look like one. Plus it was really cosy clothing. The innermost defensive layer also acted as a soft padding, so the coat was a lot more comfortable than it looked.

"I see that this place is actually funded this time around," she joked as she no longer had to step over random cables and tiles on the ground, "series B or what?"

Well, that was the extent of her sociability. It was easier to shit on heroes than it was to make friends with villains.

The weekend passed without much fanfare, not that it felt any better. Try as he might, Peter couldn't bring everyone's spirits up. Renard in particular was hit pretty hard about the whole thing, especially since it caused Sofia to leave. From what he understood, it wasn't her decisions, but he was taking it pretty hard. And frankly it pissed Peter off. Though they but heads and don't see eye for eye, Peter felt Renard was a friend. They knew how they thought, or at least Peter believed he did. But now, after all of this, seeing Renard so down and hopeless, it made Peter angry. Partly because he thought Renard was giving up, but also because it was eating at Peter's courage too. It was hard enough that they all went through it. If they threw in the towel now, what sort of heroes did they plan to be? What sort of a hero gives up just because they lost once, just because it got difficult? If Peter wanted an easy job he could've easily become a something else. A police officer or something. He didn't choose to be a hero because he thought it would be easy. He certainly didn't lose heart after he learned how hard being a hero really is.

The doctors still told Peter not to overexert himself once he was discharged from the hospital, so for the rest of the weekend Peter didn't do much aside from some shopping. He needed to replace his emergency phone since it broke. Good thing he paid for insurance for it. This time however he wasn't going to skimp out on the payment; his phone broke after one beating and getting tossed to the floor. If that's all it'd take, then he needed to invest in a sturdier phone. An invest he did: he paid top dollar for a frankly ugly, but neigh-indestructible smart phone. One made for heroes, capable of surviving temperatures up to three thousand degrees, water proof, and can stop a bullet. Sure it was about an inch thick, but that just meant it'll take a beating. He also made sure to download the emergency app and a recording app; this way with just two button swipes he can both alert authorities and start a live-stream recording to his facebook. This time for sure he'll make sure those criminals don't get away scottfree.

That monday was largely a blur. A lot of students coming by to offer their sympathies, but Peter didn't really give them too much attention. For starters despite the disaster they were still expected to follow up on their duties as students. In the country where school shooters were once a monthly occurrence, a little violence wasn't enough to excuse academic pause. Good thing too since Peter wanted to try and get his mind off of it. He almost dreaded going to hero class when he heard it was canceled. He wasn't sure what was worse; the fact that something major enough happened to cause their hardass teacher Mr. Hayes to cancel class, or that now Peter wasn't really sure what to do. For a moment he thought about ditching class and going home but he quickly thought against it; this was the perfect opportunity to put his money where his mouth was and train.

For Peter, the best place for him to train was outside of the gym where the sandpits were. There were two forms of training he did and both of them required him to use his boulder form: moving and shifting. Moving was simple enough, just turn into a big boulder and start moving. Yeah it wears him out quickly, but as long as he paces himself and doesn't go too crazy he can slowly build up his stamina. Shifting was much harder. Not only did it require him to to be able to concentrate and change his shape in more complex forms than just a sphere, but it also included his ability to shift in and out of his rock forms on the move. It was something he never really tried to improve on before. He used to think that just being able to go boulder form would be enough to deal with most villains. But now he knew how wrong he was, and with no ignorance to excuse it.

Once Peter changed into his hero clothes (Since his gym clothes shred when he uses his quirk) he took his place in the sand pits and immediately changed his shape to that of a large flat stone. The sand underneath his feet shifted as his form pushed the sand out of the way and shifted his massive weight. The first thing he worked on was shifting his form in such a way that he didn't immediately tip over. To others it looked like he was a large rectangular slab, but upon closer inspection some might see that he was more trapezoid shape at the bottom. But that was the easy part. The hard part was on the surface. It was hard to see, but Peter was trying to add some layer of texture to his shape, small groves around his body. Usually his boulder forms are fairly smooth even when he's not bothering with detailed forms. But in order to manifest more complex shapes, he needed to be able to start with the very surface.

Peter would stay on those shapes for only a few seconds before shifting out. But he barely stays in his normal form as he shifts again, trying to creature more detail on his surface, as well as general trying more complex shapes than just cubes, spheres, or triangles. With his slab form especially, he tried to slowly but gradually "bend". It's not much, but the fact he can even form a shape beyond a slab was some form of progress. So Peter would repeat that for a while: change into a boulder, shift out, change back, and so forth until he felt tired. When he did he'll give himself a few minutes to catch his breath, usually about five minutes or so.

Yi sat on an Iron beam looking down at his fellow classmates. One leg tucked up while the other dangled and swung lazily. He was actually the first one in the gym, though no one noticed. Why? Well because he was sitting in the rafters of course. Who looks for a 5 foot China man in the rafters? No one. Unless you were looking for a ninja...but that’s a Japanese man so totally different subject altogether.

He had heard what had happened to his fellow students, and he felt angry he was weak enough to catch the flu of all things a day before...so he missed everything. From what he heard, it was a nightmare. He didn’t know if there was much he could have helped with. While he was very confident in his fighting ability. There was never a time he was fighting for his life as of yet. He was surprised to hear that Sofia wasn’t coming back… he knew instantly it wasn’t because she didn’t want to. She always tried so hard to prove herself here. But most likely her family. It’s happened many times before with other students in generations before.

For the most part, everyone seemed ok. Low in spirits maybe. But it seemed Renard was in the worst state right now. Renard not even a shadow of his former self at the moment. Everyone was on edge till Gabby hit herself with the punching bag. Starting to laugh. He tilted his head to the side. She was always an odd one. However that look on her face, it was clear she was punching...someone. A look he was all too familiar with a few years ago.

As Kerianne and Freya were worrying over her. He wrapped his foot around a rope and between his leg, the same rope he climbed up on when he got there. Pulling it up with him before Kerianne got there. Tipping over casually he caught himself with his legs, and slowly lowered himself down squeezing his legs and feet together to control his decent.

He came to a sudden stop just behind Kerianne, so his upside down head was level with hers. Just a foot away in an attempt to scare the serious girl and lighten the mood a little more. He suddenly said very calmly. “I Would say the correct question is… WHO was she punching?” He said in with an eyebrow raised, his eyes squinting and aimed at Gabby as if deep in thought. His left arm folded under his right. While his right hand thumb gripped his chin and his knuckles touching his nose. As if this was completely normal of him.

So, there were some who were actually killed at the incident, but her slightly distasteful comment didn't really refer to them. She had to admit that she did feel a little guilty about it anyway, though she did not show it.

At any rate, Eira had snatched up the letter the second Gabby had put it back down, skimming through it with narrowed eyes. So Sofia was gone. Sofia, who had saved her life, and now was being taken to some other place as a result. She placed the letter back down with considerably less force than she had used to pick it up, and resumed with her typical scowl. Her mother had told her that if she frowned too much, it would get stuck on her face, but the truth was that she had so much to scowl at that there wasn't much point in other expression at this point.

However, while Eira was in a perpetual bad mood, she had to say that it really didn't suit Renard. It seemed that the whole ordeal had affected him rather greatly, which was more evident now that he had actually said something to her. Hell, the one making the puns at this point was Freya (which Eira did not appreciate, evidenced nothing but an eye roll in response). She did raise an amused eyebrow at Gabriella, though. Kerianne was pretty concerned about her as well, even if she had just fallen over.

"Whatever. Just don't get stuck in Gloomtown forever, 'cause then you'll forget about the actual city we live in," Eira said, yawning slightly. "If you have any kinda problem with me, I don't actually care, but you can tell me them on your own. Getting real sick of having ten people bitching at me whenever I say anything. Later."

She was done there. No point in training, she wasn't in the mood for it anymore in the first place. So she left, not saying anything else, ready to go back to her original plan for the day: study. Education was just as important as hero work, which she didn't actually believe but it seemed like something a hero would say. They did have the academic section of the afternoon still to come, so it might actually be of some use.

---

@Aviaire@LuckyBlackCat@Heartfillia@Aerandir@Tenma Tendo

Hearing the concerns voiced by both Freya and Kerianne, Gabriella's chuckling subsided. She...didn't hear anyone else laughing. A burning embarrassment overcame her and she found herself wanting to do nothing but continue laying face-down where she was. Even if it hadn't been an intentional slip-up, she'd still been hoping the resulting attempt at physical comedy would have helped lighten the mood at least a little. A silver lining to the dull, throbbing pain she felt in the back of her neck and shoulders, if nothing else.

Next, Yi dropped down behind Kerianne, a fact Gabby only found out by turning her head to look toward him via the corner of her eye as he espoused his question. Gabriella gave a soft exhale, then began the process of righting herself, her arms lifting her torso off the mat and her legs curling under her as she sat up. She glanced around at everyone's face, starting with Yi. While everyone else appeared to have varying degrees of concern on their faces. Yi simply looked pensive as if he was focusing his uncanny ability to read her thoughts, something he'd displayed since the very first week of the semester. She wondered, would he have been the one to talk her out of dwelling on her thoughts if he'd been present last Friday, instead of Renard?

Wait. Had she ever actually thanked Renard for that? It might just have been the blow to the head, but she couldn't remember having done so. And now, with so many of their friends in one room, she felt now would be a great time to do so. Or, it would be if Eira wasn't turning to leave!

"Eira! Please wait!" Eira seemed to hear her, stopping in the doorway to the gymnasium and turning in her direction. Her face still looked pretty dismayed, but Gabby couldn't worry about that now. "There is something I need to say, and I want as many people as possible to hear it."

Gabriella stood up on her feet, glancing between Yi, Kerianne, and Freya as she rose. She felt bad for ignoring their questions, but this was important. She then locked her eyes onto Renard. "Renard. I never properly thanked you for what you did for me on Friday. After that rescue exercise, I wanted nothing more than to go home and think about my failures. I thought that would make sure I learned the lessons I needed to learn to be a proper hero, but in truth, I was just dwelling. You were the one who helped me come to the realization that I do not need to dwell on failure to learn from it. Because of you, I was present at the factory."

Her gaze shifted to Freya, who had been able to escape the villains, however briefly, thanks to the hole she'd made with Peter's help; then to Eira, who she felt she had aided by intercepting the scorpion villain while Eira went to help Renard. "To any of you who feel that my presence aided in their survival against those villains, I wish for you to direct your gratitude to Renard as well. If he wasn't the person he is, I would not have been present to aid you. And for those who weren't present that day..."

She glanced between Yi, Kerianne, and Breeze. "...I hope you'll also extend your gratitude to Renard, for helping ensure we didn't lose any friends that day. He fought the hardest of any of us, and every wound he bears is one that was not inflicted on someone else."

She turned her gaze back to Renard, both to deliver the closer to the speech she had improvised (she took a moment to mentally thank her talent for putting on performances, which was what allowed her to speak so earnestly in front of so many people to begin with), and to gauge his reaction. "Thank you for everything you did for me, and for my friends, Renard."

---

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@Aerandir @Nyahahameha @Heartfillia

When she heard the sudden voice behind her, Kerianne's reaction was instant. The constantly alert girl spun round, diving for the shadow of the upside-down figure and vanishing. A few feet away, she reappeared next to a trolley of gym equipment. As the room lurched, she gripped the side of the basket, accidentally tilting it. "Ah!" She managed to steady herself and the storage unit, but not before footballs, tennis rackets and hoops had scattered across the floor. Not daring to lean down, she crawled on all fours to gather everything up.

"Nice try, Yi," she called, trying to sound as cool-headed as possible. "I see you've learned a thing or two from Hayes. Although it'll take more than that to startle me. I'm just, uhh..." She caught a rolling football, staggered to her feet and dropped it in the trolley. "Training my reflexes." Picking up the rest of the supplies, she hoped her cringing wasn't as obvious as the bad lie. What a sight she must look. At least a good laugh might be just what people needed right now, and might help Gabby feel better about her own mishap.

Kerianne turned to Gabby, glancing from her to Yi, her face as solemn as ever as she considered his question. If the wrestler had been venting her anger at a person, it could only be... "Let me guess. Whoever hurt Sofia," Kerianne said, voice hushed as she addressed Gabby. "If that's the case, I can't say I blame you."

Whether or not it was, Gabby didn't say. Instead, she stood up, announcing she had something for everyone to hear. As even Eira turned round, Kerianne listened to the uplifting speech, directed at the person who needed it most. Renard. When it reached its end, Kerianne nodded, with the faintest of smiles towards the brooding blond.

"You know, as grating as that constant goofing around is..." she commented. "Things just aren't the same without that person here to drive everyone round the twist. I mean, Yi had to be the one to pull a prank just now." Slowly, she approached Renard. "I was told the other day that everyone who gets into this school gets in for a reason. That includes you. You're probably never going to let me forget I said this, but under that class clown exterior, there's quite some heroic potential."

That smile widened ever so slightly. "Thank you. For making sure those who went on that visit got out."

---

---

@Aviaire @Nyahahameha @Heartfillia

As Eira made yet another snippy little comment and strode away from the group, Freya's mouth dropped open. Eira knew how many people had nearly died. She knew several had been hospitalised. Dammit, she'd SEEN Renard's breakdown. Couldn't she show some consideration, like when she'd allowed that tiny thaw in her icy shell back there?

Freya couldn't help herself. She stood up, running a few paces, watching Eira head to the door. "Y-You're not going to help people out of Gloomtown if that's where your permanent address is!" she called, then covered her mouth, wishing she hadn't spoken. While the frosty girl had more heroic qualities than were immediately obvious, that attitude... To Freya, it could be just a little familiar at times. Yet just now, by getting so unusually confrontational, had she sounded any better?

Slumping her shoulders, she trudged back to Renard's side at the bleachers. "You'd think she could be more grateful after you saved her," she said in a mutter that Eira wouldn't hear, trying to remind him just how much he'd accomplished that day. Not that it was likely to work. She doubted he'd even have any more to say about Kerianne's blunder just now than about Gabby's.

Somebody, however, did express gratitude, and in the most motivational way she could. Freya raised her head, listening with rapt attention as Gabby made it clear just how much he'd done for her. How much he'd done for everyone. Tears prickled Freya's eyes, and a grin brightened her face. Once Kerianne had added what she had to say, the catlike girl took her turn.



"Do you see it now?" she asked Renard. "How much you mean to people? And how you've helped more than you think, so, so much more. Like I said, if not for you, I'd never have gotten out of there. And Sofia... If she wrote to you, surely she included you in the list of people she says are her heroes. I was only able to reach her because of you. Hell, even Eira's got to be thankful on some level. She did care enough to go check on you, do her best to get you out."

Again, Freya shuddered at what her own carelessness had brought about - the full extent even worse than she'd known - but went on. "And it's not just that. Like Gabby said... You just have this way of lifting people's spirits. Cheering her right up. Encouraging me to train and push myself. You're even set on making Eira smile. So of course we're going to return the favour."

She crouched beside him with a pleading look. "You'll accept that, won't you? If you don't..." She curled her hands in front of herself like paws, tilting her head and doing the best mock sad eyes she could. "I'll look at you like this until you do!" She crawled around him, making mewling sounds. "You can't say no to the kitty stare, can you?"

In spite of everything, a laugh left her tight throat. "You're our hero, Renard. Don't you tell yourself otherwise."

Breeze nodded thoughtfully as the added on weight made the girl groan soon after, using both hands to lean back from where she was sitting. Better to get use to the weight now rather than later with there being actual stakes.
"Y-Yeah, I h-hope so too..." A barely visible smile pulled at her lips before she reached into her bag yet again and pulled out a book this time. Most of her training boiled down to getting accustomed to various weights, so she definitely had enough downtime to get some reading or homework done. Her dad would kill her if she spent any waking second relaxing...

Unfortunately, it looked like Keri's hopeful words weren't going to come true any time soon, a least from the way Eira saw everything. Breeze never got the chance to speak on it, nor was she going to as Freya and Renard made their way into the gym, just in time to hear Eira's cynical words. Everything just seemed to fall apart after that.

Everyone was just...so high strung. Either really upset, or really angry. Gabby even resorted to physically letting out her anger on the unsuspecting punching bag, green eyes wide as she toppled to the ground, Kerianne on her feet in seconds to go help the other. Breeze on the other hand, was practically frozen, hands clutching tightly on the book she planned to making a dent in. It would be too hard to focus with everyone being like...this.

The regular anxiety building up in her little frame surged, body shaking ever so slightly while all of this was happening, and even more so when she caught sight of Yi sliding down from the roof on a rope; she should honestly be use to this, but her nature made it impossible.

And while she didn't want to admit it, she felt like she was at home right now, the one place she thought she could escape all of it, even if it were just for a few hours.

As Eira took her leave, Breeze honestly felt like doing the same, but where would she even go? Plus removing all the blocks in her body would take too long and resort in people asking her questions. Luckily, Gabby was there to have her stop, wanting to say something to everyone. Most of it had nothing to do with the green haired girl, but she could still feel the gratitude and thought that went into each sentence. Of course she was grateful that all of her friends made it out alive from such a scary and dangerous situation, and the reason she hadn't spoken to Renard was because she didn't want to accidentally trigger him, but Breeze still nodded slightly (although it could be mistake for for more trembling) in agreement.

Her nodding became more and more noticeable as Kerianne, then Freya gave their two cents on it all. And they were right. So right in fact, that even Breeze let her voice be heard.

"Th-Thank you for treating us so nicely a-all the time. I-It really means a lot...and makes it less painful to...to keep going. Y-You mean a lot more to us...to m-me than you c-can ever imag-gine. A-And then some!" She didn't say as much as the others, but her words held an underlying context she was still nervous to let the other knows about. Regardless, the normally downcast eyes, looking over at Renard as a shaky smile pulled slightly on her lips.

...Maybe what Keri said earlier did have some merit.

While everyone was off at the gym training and having a heart-to-heart chat, Damian was in the library. He wasn't sure how to feel about what had happened last Friday. Obviously it was terrible how the students got hurt and what they went through. That being said, the reason he wasn't able to even make it to school that day was due to the birth of his new baby brother. He had gotten a call from his father about his mother's contraction and had to leave school in the middle of lunch to take her to the hospital, as his father was in the middle of an operation against some low-level criminals. So it was an awkward thing to think it was a terrible day when he was also witnessing the miracles of childbirth.

All Damian knew for certain was that he was going to be awkward to talk to the others about it. He heard after he came to school that day that few students ended up leaving, likely due to the attack itself. He could read the mood and knew many were trying to move past it, but the lingering doubt haunted them all the same. What they needed was some hope, and that wasn't going to come from lip service. Though Damian wasn't there to help them fight he could help them in other ways. Speaking to a few of them he learned a bit about the quirks the villains had, particularly one about the scorpion lady. A physical mutation quirk was hard to hide and would serve as an important clue as Damian searched through the government quirk registry. Thanks to his dad's connections (And his permission), Damian had access to the local registry of quirks in the entire California state. It wasn't going to be easy though. While physical mutations were easy to spot, the database had a lot of people with scorpion based quirks.

Still it's not as if every criminal and villain in the world is off the grid. There's a reason why some of the most powerful and heinous villains are constantly on the run or make the effort to hide their quirks. Unless all of the villains they've fought had parents who never bothered to register their quirks or simply weren't raised very well, chances are their quirks had been registered on a government database. The chances of them being late bloomers and developing their quirk after they had turned to villainy is also extremely slim. From what the others went through, those villains weren't just thugs throwing around their weight. They were well experienced with their quirks. They had to have had it for a long time since their youths. Another factor while Damian was researching was if the person with the scorpion quirk had a known criminal record. Such records were accessible to the public, and again thanks to his father Damian can simply put in a name and try and find out if anyone that pops up has any prior convictions. Anything as minor as littering to as serious as terrorism.

This wasn't the sort of exciting action-packed work most heroes-in-training imagine, but it was important work nonetheless. As they say, "Knowing is half the battle". Knowing more about the enemy, what they're capable of, and who they associate with is of vital importance. Sipping tea from his cup Damian closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Man... I just wanna be helpful."

After their mission, Sharkman had fled, using the confusion from the explosion as cover. After laying low for several hours, he'd made his way back to Alcatraz in the wee hours of the morning and slept. The last two days had been spent finishing moving in, and, more importantly, beginning an intense training regimen. He hadn't expected quite the resistance they'd had at the factory, and had busied himself with making himself a better fighter. He had been showering after lifting weights in his celldorm when his phone buzzed, alerting him to the meeting.

"Sup. Are you gonna pay us today?" Ryan asked Noxious, resting his massive pair of scissors against the table as he slouched into a chair. He was still wearing has mask, but hadn't seen fit to fully suit up: He had on a black tank-top, showing off his lean, yet toned build, and a pair of slate-grey jeans.

"We haven't met since our last adventure, have we? How have you been?" He asked Quinn idly. "I think the last mission went alright, though I'm a little worried about Jackie." He mused, frowning a little. "Are we gonna spring them out?"

Well, the time had come. 2 days had been and gone, Dean having taken a break from villainy during the time and entertaining himself with just spending time exploring San Francisco a bit. But finally, it was the day that the League was scheduled to meet again. Dean had donned his full gear - as he should when meeting up with his new companions - and left his manor to make the journey to Alcatraz. Dean memorised the route well, and he arrived at Alcatraz shortly after he left, suffering little strife on his short journey.

As he walked up into the building, he took off his mask, holding it under his shoulder. Well, he noticed, this place had certainly been upgraded in the last few days. The theft of a massive amount of expensive hero gear would certainly provide the funds for that. He enjoyed this place much more now, it was more sophisticated, much more to his taste than the dingy, dark and abandoned building which the League had first convened in 2 days prior.

Dean wasn't the first one to arrive, evidently, as Noxious was in the corner, Quinn and Jacobs both convened in the middle of the room. Dean for a moment wondered if there would be anyone new here - although, with how low the group had been ordered to lay after the incident at the factory, and especially as a member of their number had been unfortunately captured. Dean had arrived just in time to hear Jacob speak, and he paused for a moment before speaking himself.

"Greetings, everyone." He placed his mask on the table and pulled out a chair, sitting down. "I don't think we should be wasting valuable time and equipment at this stage in our operations, just to retrieve someone who got themselves captured. I'm sure Jackie will be fine. We should wait until we have more wealth, more equipment."

Renard didn’t react too much to the others, but the sudden hit in the back from Gabriella’s punch was indeed slightly comical. Literally a twitch of a smile came on his face as he looked back down to his leg as he massaged it. A few moments later when Kerianne was distracted by Gabby, Yi had slid down a rope upside down, managing to get right behind her and speaking normally. But he knew he meant to scare her, He and Yi took it upon themselves to Get a genuine scare out of the strict student leader of the group.

A huff a held in laugh and a slight twitch again came upon his face. Though no one would see it as they would be focused on the scene Yi just created. Though he did look to Freya as she snipped at Eira, surprised as she was not one to do that...at all really. He never heard her make a snark reply...to anyone. She then mentioned to him she should be grateful after he saved did for her. At which he shook his head. I wouldn’t worry about it... he said softly. Though he never heard her say thanks, or saw her smile. She did try to help him near the end.

Kerianne tried to play it off cool, as she suddenly teleported away. But the knocking over of equipment and her failing to come up with an excuse right away meant Yi had succeeded. Though she did managed to cover it pretty well. This would only egg them on to attempt once again later on.

Yi simply smiled with his eyes seemingly closed at Kerianne’s attempt to play it cool. And nodded as he replied “Yes, remaining unseen in an open room full of people is a very useful skill to learn. Though I must say your reflexes are… He watched as a ball bounced by him. “... on point.” He gripped the rope between his legs with his left arm and unwrapped his legs from the rope. Looking over as gabby called for everyone's attention. He slowly twisted rightside up with the one arm holding the rope till he landed gently on his feet. While she spoke he helped Kerianne with picking up a few balls that rolled towards him.

Renard looked to Gabby as she called his name out. Suddenly thanking him for what he did before the incident. Quite honestly he had forgotten about the attempt to encourage her before they got on the bus till she brought it back up. The mentioning of dwelling on failures caused his right eye, with the old scar to twitch.

She then turned to the others, and explained if they felt gabby helped them, it was thanks to himself. An odd look came upon his face as she did. He could logically see her reasoning behind the sentence, but he did not quite agree with it, nor did he want to be given more praise than she was trying to do. Especially when she told the others who were not there how hard he fought. He started to shake his head and raised his hands up as to refuse the notion. He certainly did not fight the hardest out of all of them. ”N-no..Gabby...I. That's not...

Kerianne then spoke up, cutting him off as she started ommenting on how he helps drive everyone here. He looked to her as she mentioned Yi, only tilting his head slightly thinking...he would have done it anyway. But didn’t say it. When she mentioned there's a reason he’s here, and how he had quite some heroic potential… he averted his eyes downward. He never expected to hear that from her, she always seemed to get on his case about something. But she was smiling at him and encouraging him. Thanking him for helping the others get out. He sighed in slight defeat as he started to get uncomfortable.

Freya then jumped onto the wagon. Using this to reinforce what she said earlier. Adding onto every point that was said. Again giving him more credit that he felt he deserved. How would he know if they would have gotten out of there without his help.

But when she mentioned on how he tried to lift spirits, an make them smile or encourage them. He felt twinges of guilt as she pointed them out. At how selfish he was being in this state, and dragging everyone down with him. Pointing out again at his failure, now that they had to cheer him up. It made him feel worse, but at the same time he couldn’t help but have hint of a smile on his lips… at the whole attempt to make him feel better, even though he felt so uncomfortable and guilty because of it.

She suddenly switched gears, starting to crawl around him, and act like a cat waaaaaaay more than she would ever do. Honestly it was adorable, uncomfortable, and funny at the same time. She always had her cat ‘quirks’ but going full mode like this, he didn’t know how to handle it. Though at her laugh, he couldn’t help but cover his face in slight embarrassment and to hide his smile. He did say softly so really only she could hear. That’s not fair Freya.. looking to her for a moment.

Breeze then spoke up, the girl who was so shy and timid he thought he offended her at first when he tried to be nice to her. Only recently had she gotten used to his personality...well before the trip. Her bringing up being so nice caused him to frown slightly at thinking back to how he acted to others before. But it did mean a lot that she spoke up. He was finally smiling softly now, so everyone could see. Appreciative of all their support.

Though he still had his issues… not feeling worthy of being called a hero still. Be it hardheadedness. Or denial. It was something that couldn’t be pulled away quite so easily with kind words and thankfulness towards him. At least not completely. They did help to finally pull him from his dark thoughts for the moment. Perhaps it was best to just put on a smile and move on. Not wanting to drag them down any further.

Clearing his throat, he said just barely loud enough for all of them to hear.”Thank you...everyone...i’m sorry for bringing the mood down. Looking to each of them as he said it. Nodding a silent thanks to each person who said something, reciving a silent nod back from Yi, who didn't have to say anything. His eyes silently saying thanks in return. ”I don't deserve that much praise though... adding on when he looked to Gabby. ”Everyone did their best in that situation. I shouldn’t be thanked more over anyone else. He scratched the back of his head looking to Freya. Whispering ”can you stop that now… I'm smiling ok? He said with a slight smile, and red on his cheeks embarrassed she was doing that around him still.

He looked over to Eira who was still standing at the door. More embarrassed she actually stopped when Gabby called, only to listen to her rant how ‘great’ he was. He quickly excused himself and moved over to the door as she was leaving once again and said quickly and just loud enough for only them to hear.”Hey Eira, I’m...uh sorry about earlier. I just wanted to say thanks for trying help me before… yeah know… near the end. I just realized I didn’t say thank you for that...so um...yeah.. Thank you.” He finished awkwardly, looking away from her and back towards the gym.

Yi let out a satisfied sigh. "Annnnnnnd there he goes. Seems like it worked Gabby." Looking to the others in the room. Well, we still got some time. Anyone wanna spar?" he said looking to the four girls in the room, Freya, Keri, Gabby and Breeze.Or... something?

Kaori was unwrapping the protective bandages around her hands while others walked in - keeping her eyes away from them. It was only when Dean spoke up that their pseudo-leader looked up; "What he said." she simply said, pointing her head towards Sharkman. Other had yet to arrive, but it didn't matter for now. Things were simple enough to follow even if they missed the start of the conversation.

"Don't be so greedy. You'll find your pay as you come back. In case you forgot, we left here last time as a team of 6, not 4. Ripper's gone and transferred to a high security prison. However...we've had info on Sana. She's going to be transferred - Tonight. You guys will break her out before that happens."

Orders. Again. Strange it was that she would give no news and say absolutely nothing about the mission that had done 2 days ago. The facility was destroyed for sure - they had been talking about it for the last two days - but what about Enterprise?

"You won't do it alone. I'm not coming, but I've recruited some fresh blood to help you free Animus."

---

By the door leading in the gym, three silhouettes quickly passed right past Eira and Renard.

"Well, would you look at that !" launched an extremely cheerful voice belonging to a student with bright blue hair.

"Heroes! In the flesh...Hahah!" as she proclaimed this, she did a small 360 during which she made a 'Peace' sign towards Renard and Eira, winking at the boy.

"Don't look so special from up close..." said another of the three girl. This one was speaking with a lower tone of voice and was a direct contrast to the first one; where her friend was vibrant and colorful, she seemed lazy and wore darker tones. This was also true to their personality, it seemed. The girl had long, dark hair and it was hard to say if those horns on her head were part of her quirk, or just some strange fashion pieces.

In the middle of those stood a slightly smaller student. This one had long, blond hair and looked...pretty normal compared to her friends. She even looked quite shy and clumsy.
"Girls...let's be friendly now..." she said with her low and shy voice - those further away might not even have heard her at all. Students from another class. Whereas Mr. Hayes' students were from Class A, these students were from Class C.

"Friendly? I'm always friendly, silly! Don't you know me ~ ?" the blue-haired one said as she struck a pose with her two fingers making the side-peace sign beside her eyes - then she jumped forward to extend her arm to Gabby, who was closest. "I'm Momo !" she had strange contraptions around her wrists.

"Well, that's Momo for you..." said the taller, dark haired girl with a sigh. "I haven't come to make friends though - especially with this lot. I can feel the defeatism and negativity oozing out of you like..." she marked a pause during which her arms fell back to her sides, obviously not being able to finish this metaphor. "...Well, like something. I don't know why everyone talks of you... it's not like you did much, from what I heard, and you even lost a class member, isn't that right?"

"Erika!" said the shy girl as an immediate answer to those harsh words. "C'mon! Don't be like that...Let's just go, we can train another time...!" she said, trying to push her friend away - but ended up having Erika's hand on her forehead, keeping her away, arms flailing.

"Hey! They're here to train, right? And us too! Can't we just train together ~ ?"

---

@Aerandir@SimpleWriter

Though Gabriella had already been smiling, hoping it added some weight to the words of encouragement she was trying to hammer into Renard's head, she couldn't resist the pull of her cheeks as others joined in, adding their own words to hers. Kerianne, Freya, and even Breeze - shy as she was and having not been present at the factory - all joined in to help her lift him back up. She felt proud, both of herself for having apparently chosen her words well enough to spark that reaction from them, and of her classmates for their compassion. There wasn't a single person in that room with her that she wouldn't consider hero material.

All of their words (and Freya beginning to act like a house cat for some reason) seemed to succeed in lifting Renard's spirits. Or at the very least, getting him to recognize what a downer he was being. Gabby felt immense relief as she saw a smile finally bless his face with its presence. He even hopped off the bleacher to talk to Eira, which was a good sign, too. Good. Keep being the Renard we all know. That's what Sofia told you to do. She might not have died, but that doesn't mean I'll let you ignore her final wishes as a student at UJ.

Yi must have felt the weight of the air in the room lift as well, as he promptly suggested a sparring session. "You are-- no, wait...You're on!" Gabriella immediately answered, hoping she'd used that contraction properly. "The weekend left me feeling stiff. I'll set out the--"

She was cut off from saying "mats" when a voice she didn't recognize rang through the gym like the jingle of sleigh bells rings through a mall in December. Turning to the door, Gabby found the source - a blue-haired girl, probably around the same age as her classmates and herself, who performed a pose while she spoke of them a "heroes in the flesh". Gabby couldn't be entirely sure whether she was being sincere or sarcastic, but she wanted to believe the former. Such high energy and cute poses couldn't possibly come from a mean person, could they?

Her friends didn't seem to share her demeanour, which was probably for the best - more than one person with that energy would be overwhelming. Gabriella froze for a moment when the peppy girl introduced herself. Momo? Cute name, too. And so friendly1 No, she definitely must have been speaking sincerely when she entered. Gabby felt her fondness for Momo increase immediately. Conversely, her dark-haired compatriot proved quite quickly to not be worth Gabriella's time or breath. Okay, focus! You're meeting a new person who seems interesting. Don't screw up.

Gabby's hand took Momo's. Engulfed it, really. "My name is-- wait, please."

After cutting herself off, Gabriella released Momo's hand and took a step back. Feeling inspired by Momo's energy, she decided to try to impress her by acting in kind. She was pretty sure this was known as "mirroring". So, instead of introducing herself with a simple hand shake, Gabriella performed a twirl on the ball of her left foot. Her right foot touched the ground for just a moment to stop her spin with her right side angled toward Momo, who she then pointed at with both hands while raising her right leg up and holding her left arm over her own head.

"I am Gabriella! It is nice to meet you, Momo!" Gabriella responded, holding the pose. She then realized she wasn't smiling, and a nervous grin spread across her face in a sloppy attempt to rectify that.

Well, right after that, Freya hit her with a little quip. It wasn't even that good, but she had to give the girl credit for trying, at least she would have, had Freya not seemed to regret her words. What was with that? Was she afraid of a little confrontation?

Then, she, having had enough of everyone else, was leaving. Then Gabriella told her to turn around, and she'd assumed it would be something important or whatever. Instead, she'd been hit with a vaguely inspirational speech on how great Renard was. Were she not so pissed off, Eira would have been laughing so hard that she would have been physically unable to breathe. As the tall girl gave it, Eira wondered why the hell she had to listen to this. She was grateful to Renard, and some of the others too, but she didn't feel the need to crow about it when the opportunity arose. Especially not for a straight few minutes.

She was about to get out of the gym once again, until Renard approached her. He gave her some thanks, and she just gave him a weird look. He turned back to the gym anyway, and Eira just muttered, "Whatever." To the three newcomers, she spared just a glance at them, especially the other girl with blue hair. Since she'd seemed to be looking at her, that was, she didn't really care otherwise. If Renard, or anyone else, wanted to say anything else to her, it was too late, because she was already off, quickly walking down the corridor and away, away, away from the gym. There were too many people there. She wasn't in the mood. She never really was.

Eira ended up in the library. It was where she had originally planned to go for the afternoon, and she sorely regretted going to the gym instead. It was considerably less crowded, which was pleasant, and the only person in there she recognised was Damian, doing some research or whatever he did in his spare time. That's such a shit hobby.

Either way, when she went in, she gave him an awkward wave that was more of just sticking her hand up and then immediately putting it back down. Do not talk to me. Do not talk to me. Do not talk to me.

---

---

@Heartfillia @SimpleWriter

As Renard smiled, Freya gave a contented purr. Her attempt to cheer him up had worked... sort of. This wouldn't solve everything, especially not something of that magnitude. Like her mother had said, it would take a while for everyone to get back on their feet. Still, maybe - hopefully - this was a start. "Ha! I knew you couldn't resist my ultimate technique!" she joked, reclining on the steps once more.

"And it's not that we're praising you too much," she continued, "or more so than anyone else. It's that you're not giving yourself enough credit. Yeah, everyone did their best, but so did you." A trace of sadness tinged her smile. No, not quite everyone, she couldn't help thinking. She could have done better. She could have looked where she was going instead of blundering right in, and spared Renard all that physical and mental torment in the first place. Gabby may have mentioned it didn't do to dwell on regrets - which must have resonated with Renard much, much more than intended - but was there really a way not to?

Watching as he headed over to Eira, Freya tensed a little, hoping the icy girl wouldn't bring his mood crashing back down. Instead, her only response was a mutter, a glare and a hasty exit. Pretty mild for Eira at least, Freya noted, although surely a simple thank you in return couldn't be that difficult.

Just as the class' resident ice queen left, three other students made an appearance. Freya sat up, giving an uneasy chuckle as one of them squealed about meeting heroes in the flesh. A kind thing to say, that applied to most people here, and was exactly the encouragement they needed. She, however, wasn't exactly used to hearing such compliments, and living up to such expectations would be no easy feat.

Beside the bubbly girl, a dark and dreary student was quick to offset the positivity. At the sheer dismissiveness in the horned girl's tone, Freya's back stiffened into a slight arch. Eira's attitude sometimes stirred up uncomfortable memories, but this person's taunts sounded almost exactly like those constantly stuck in the back of Freya's mind. Another student, a timid seeming one with band-aids on her face, whispered to her snarky friend, but did nothing to deter her. More insults followed, the comment about Sofia's departure hitting like a gut punch.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Freya faced the girl, Erika. She wished she could pull off rousing speeches, like Peter or Gabby. Instead, she gave a simple reply. "They did more than you think. More than they seem to think themselves."

---

---

@Nyahahameha @Tenma Tendo @SimpleWriter @Aerandir

Kerianne's eyes shifted from Renard to Gabby, then to Breeze. "This is exactly what I meant." Her tone remained cool, like that of a teacher demonstrating a theory to a class, but her lips still had that small upward curve. There had been truth to her adoptive father's words that day. Once again, she turned to Gabby. "Moral support really is part and parcel of a hero's job."

At Yi's suggestion, she nodded. "Since there was supposed to be a training lesson anyway, I'm up for some sparring," she said, right after Gabby jumped at the chance. "Just, uh, give me a moment." With that automatic inward shudder that any hint of vulnerability brought on, she headed back to the mat and sat down, sipping from the water bottle. "It's nothing. I just need some water is all." It had to be as obvious now as it had been a moment ago that she didn't yet feel one hundred per cent, but she wasn't going to do herself another stupid injury. Besides, she'd be fine after a few minutes, which she could spend watching the others. "Breeze, are you in?"

An excited shout from the doorway drew Kerianne's attention as three students entered. She stood, ready to greet them, only to fold her arms at a comment that contrasted utterly with that of the cheery blue-haired girl. The blonde groaned as, despite the reaction of the third student, negativity kept pouring forth from the girl addressed as Erika.

"Well isn't the mood just going to skyrocket from this," Kerianne muttered. At least Erika's attitude wasn't getting to Gabby, who copied the twirling pose of the neon-haired girl, Momo. "Good to meet you though, Momo. And..." Her gaze settled on the quiet one. "What's your name? Mine's Kerianne, and this is Yi." She gestured towards her martial artist friend. "Who in fact just suggested a training session."

Of course it brought a smile to the small girl's lips upon seeing the Renard react so positively to their truthful words. It definitely brought the mood back to something she was slowly but surely becoming use to to. As the boy in question moved on to talk to Eira a bit more privately, Breeze found her attention moving to Yi's question regarding some sparring. By now, her body was use to the added on weight so of course she'd be up for a bit of sparring. Not being as physically strong as the rest of her class, as well as being a little bit smaller too, the green haired girl reached back into her backpack and pulled out a rubber training knife, an uneasy, but ever willing smile tugging at her features.

"Y-Yeah, I'd like to spar if th-that's okay." She spoke up, pulling herself up to her feet as she held her knife backhanded in front of her. Despite appearing ready for anything, the small girl let out a yelp of her own as a very loud voice sent her almost into a state of panic. The grip on her knife tightened as she watched the three newcomers walk in and introduce themselves, some a little more exited than others.

And the mood that just started to lighten up was being ruined by these girls, well one of them to be fair. She didn't know anything about the situation, but still felt as if she had a right to talk so lowly about those involved? It hurt, it really did, but instead of standing up for her friends, Breeze remained quiet. What could she say? She also wasn't there and would just be seen as hypocritical even if she tried. It was best to just be nice...

Breeze somehow found herself cowering behind Kerianne once she spoke up, giving said girl a nervous glance before introducing herself to the strange, and slightly rude, trio as well.
"U-Uh, I'm B-Breeze...I-I don't mind you joining e-either if everyone e-else is o-okay w-with it." It was clear as day that she was more than uncomfortable sparing with people she didn't really know, but sooner or later she'd have to get use to it if it meant becoming a hero. But for now, she was just a student, so one could only expect so much from her.

...

...

...

Fuah? What was going on? Where was Judith? What was going on?

One blink followed another. She slowly became more recognizant of her surroundings. Her scattered memories had begun to reform. Right, she had been in the library. What was that book she was reading? Wasn't it titled something like 'Ethics in Civilian Rescue' or...? Well, whatever it was, it put Judith to sleep. One paragraph and she was out like a light. Well, it wasn't too interesting. With a great stretch and yawn, she went to pick up the book and put it back. No sense keeping a book that you wouldn't read. That was just rude to people who wanted to read about ethics in civilian rescue.

That's when someone caught her eye. Well, less 'caught her eye' and more 'was directly in her line of sight.' After lazily getting up from her chair, she now faced a girl with soft blue hair. She gave a halfhearted wave to a boy some distance away. Judith, however, was sitting directly in between the two of them. Her eyes had met Eira's as she rose and, with her head slightly cocked with slight recognition, gave a small wave back.

While Judith had recognized her as being part of the same class, they had not spoken before. The soft-blue haired woman had a... particular look about her. But that look...

"... Sour?"