Canary

Chapter 42: A Blessing in Disguise

9 days since the return

Was Canary taking this thing with Bakugo and Shinso a little too far? Jiro wasn't sure – and it didn't seem like Canary was either.

He was blatantly ignoring everyone; isolating himself; refusing to eat alongside anyone; studying in silence; not talking to –

Actually, well, that wasn't that much different from normal, come to think of it.

The main difference was him not really communicating with Shinso. Jiro had spied him signing with Koda that morning, but nothing more.

Maybe Jiro was over thinking it. Maybe he just needed a little time to consider all this. Jiro didn't really see... what he was freaking out about though? Not at first at least. But she could barely remember what Shinso had spilled. A little thought reminded her of one particular comment, lodged in her mind:

"– That he thought he'd never amount to anything and that he was the worthless, useless Deku that you made him out to be! You were the one who told him to go and commit suicide!"

But... what happened, really? Did Canary actually...?

No, Jiro didn't want to think about it – not at all.

Canary wasn't here right now. He was with Eri, according to Iida. Apparently, after she came back from her Quirk evaluation of sorts with the police, things weren't all as good as they should have been. As soon as the little girl scampered into Height's Alliance, she immediately ran up to Yaoyorozu, and asked for Canary. He carried her back down the stairs, about an hour later, her face red from tears, as he hummed a familiar tune – one that Jiro couldn't quite place – in the girl's ear, to hand her back over to Mr Aizawa, despite how displeased she seemed by the idea. So now, with her still being rather distraught after last night, Canary was spending this morning with her. He would be missing maths, but really, Jiro didn't think it mattered that Canary of all people missed one maths lesson.

Speaking of which, Jiro should really get going. Homeroom class was in ten minutes and it was safer to be early than facing Iida's wrath when she's almost not early.

She was just listening to her music, ambling along towards the school, when the tunes started to fade out. She groaned when she realised this was the tell-tale act of an in-coming phone call.

"Hello?" she answered groggily as she continued to walk, hoping she wouldn't lose signal. Or maybe hoping that she would if it was just a spam caller.

"Hey, Owl! It's me!"

Jiro frowned and stopped in her tracks, "A-Aozora?"

"That's the one!"

"Um, why are you –"

"Let me get straight to the point. Did you listen to the radio last night?"

"Err... Honestly? No..."

"Exactly!"

"Wait, what?" Jiro questioned staring up at the sky in confusion. "What does that mean for anything?"

"You're not the only one not listening, my dear friend!" Aozora continued. The distinct sound of rustling paper indicated that she was still in her office.

"Um, it's like, 8:15 in the morning – why are you calling me?"

"To fix this problem, Owl!" Aozora laughed, like it was obvious. "Why do you think we've got such a decrease in listeners? What has happened that could have possibly resulted in this?!"