Mina was the one who spoke up next.
Her usual bright energy was gone as she stared down at her own hands resting in her lap.
" Aki... Thank you....." Her voice came quiet. Too quiet for the cheerful pinkette.
Mina swallowed hard before continuing.
" I... I thought I'd die.. when that Nomu looked at me, I could not move."
Her fingers curled tighter.
" It felt like..." she laughed weakly through the trembling in her voice, "...if I breathe, I'd die. Everything froze... I couldn't think... I couldn't breathe... I couldn't even hear anything except... except my heart. I could feel it pounding in my ears."
Her shoulders started shaking slightly, as her smile completely fell apart.
Akira slowly dislodged herself from Momo and went to Mina, quietly sitting on the sofa arm as she pulled Mina into her from side.
" My whole life.... My mother... father....my dream.... Everything..." Her eyes glistened. " I saw it flash before my eyes."
Her breathing turned uneven as she melted into the embrace.
" I couldn't breathe." she admitted quietly. " If not for you..... I wouldn't even be here...."
Silence settled over the room again as they all realised how close they came to death.
Then Akira smiled. It was neither a forced or bitter smile, but rather a warm smile with a hint of mischief.
" I like being an absolute pain to unannounced party poppers you know." she grinned lightly. " And they were definitely partypoopers. We can't let them have their way now can we? " She winked at Mina who let out a laugh between sniffles.
A few weak chuckles escaped around the room.
Akira leaned back against the couch dramatically.
" Especially that octopus squirted giant overgrown shit with an exposed brain that doesn't even have braincells."
That finally drew actual laughter from several students.
Even Kaminari snorted through the remnants of tears.
Mina wiped her tears as she curled up angling into Akira as she laughed .
Tokoyami slowly looked straight ahead, eyes full of conviction and weariness of a war veteran.
" The darkness enveloped our day." he spoke with complete seriousness. " And we were tainted by its remains."
A beat of silence passed.
Then half the room burst out laughing again.
Even Tokoyami looked mildly offended.
" Why are you all laughing? That was profound." Akira spat out between laughter trying to be serious.
" Bro sounded like an ancient cursed crow spirit." Kaminari wheezed.
" It does not sound like an ancient cursed crow spirit. " Tokoyami defended himself as everyone tried to catch their breath.
The tension in the room loosened slightly after that. It felt more breathable and less suffocating.
But Akira's eyes were on three people. Katsuki, Aoyama..... and finally Midoriya.
She know she cannot try to pull the broccoli and firecracker out of their heads now. Atleast, not when everyone is present. Firecracker has too much ego. And the broccoli, he has a secret to keep. And the last one, Aoyama.
Midoriya stayed quiet through all of it, forcing himself to laugh when the others cheered up.
He couldn't lift their spirits up. But atleast, he should not bring it down when the others are lifting it up.
His injured hand remained still beneath the icepack Uraraka held against it carefully.
He wanted to speak. To open up like everyone. To talk about how his heart sank when the people he punched burst open at the start, guts spilling everywhere.
He wanted to tell them how terrified he felt, wanted to cry about the guilt he was feeling.
How every second since USJ felt like he was drowning, and how everything felt like too much.
But he was scared.
Because if he opened his mouth now...He wasn't sure if he would be able to stop from telling everything.
About how he felt from the moment the Villains first appeared. How useless and pathetic he felt.
These thoughts were clawing at him internally. The sense of unworthiness was eating him alive.
He was supposed to be like Allmight. Saving everyone with a smile . Capturing the villains and restoring the peace like him. Like a symbol of peace.
He was supposed to be the successor of One For All.
But all he could think about was how many times everyone else had protected HIM during USJ. How he not only failed to protect but killed people.
The guilt sat in his chest like something rotten. So he stayed silent and hoped nobody would notice.
Akira's gaze slowly drifted toward another corner of the room.
" Aoyama." she called gently.
The blond immediately stiffened.
" Aren't you a bit too quiet? Where are your sparkles? "
A few students glanced toward him as Akira tilted her head slightly.
" Come on. A flashy man doesn't let others take the spotlight right?"
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
" There's nothing to be afraid of here."
Her voice softened slightly.
" Breaking down is not unflashy you know."
A few students looked at her quietly after that.
Then Akira grinned again.
" You should have seen how I was bawling my eyes out when my brother came to pick me up." she admitted shamelessly. " I was crying for hours! And fell asleep right there you know. "
A weak laugh escaped Jiro as she pictured the scene in her head.
Bakugo just glanced at her without saying anything.