Here, have some FE Heroes oneshots and watch as Kiran slowly goes completely insane dealing with video game characters and gacha mechanics!

Night Stories

Seventeen days. Seventeen whole days since Anna pulled him here to be the tactician of the Order of Heroes.

Sixteen nights of this bed, with the one leaky drop on his forehead that hit him right before he fell asleep and kept him up constantly.

He wanted to blow up this entire damned castle. If Alfonse told him to summon one more time without letting him use the Orbs collected to fix up the place, he was going to shove the Orbs up his ass and rip them out like he was a Beyblade.

In just over two weeks, they'd cleared out the World of Mystery and the World of Conquest. It just said something about the Heroes that had joined his - their group. His first Summon brought Robin of Awakening to their side, just another ordinary Four Star. This was followed by many more: Donnel, Fae, Henry, Fir, and then using the last of his Orbs, Nino. All had proclaimed him as their great and wonderful leader, expecting him to lead them all to victory against Veronica the Brat with some sort of legendary tactic befitting of the legend that Anna abused to bring him from his home on planet Earth.

The gun like object on his desk - Breidablik, if he could understand the Norse language and pronounce that crap correctly - was the only thing that made him special. A weapon for the Legendary Summoner.

Someone he wasn't.

He tried to manage such a thing. Be the hero that the Heroes needed. Every time he tried, however, he found himself lacking.

The next best thing was being professional about it then. He'd be distant so no one would expect too much of him, maybe give a couple of pointers on whatever the hell they needed, and be the guy everyone knew but wasn't close to.

And that gave him a lot of free time, day and, what time it was currently, night.

He'd polished Breidablik enough that he could probably use the reflection while he brushed his teeth. He'd dissolved the pages of two whole sketchbooks with images of awkward looking anime characters and weapon schematics. Literal hours were spent trying to figure out how to make modern day weaponry for Askr to kick the asses of every Emblian troop they came across.

He wanted grenades. Guns. Hell, he had an idea for a mortar to shoot Breidablik's Orbs into the sky and just rain down heroes.

But then they'd ask about what in the world was going on, then he'd have to explain the Askr - Emblia war to crowds at a time when he could barely manage to do so for one person at a time.

And all of these things happened before his body would give him the release that was sleep. At least, up until no-

A knock at the door snapped him away from the realm of unconsciousness. The boy sighed and kicked away his ratty covers, wondering just who it was and what they needed. He threw the door open a bit too quickly, glaring into the depths of the hallway for whoever needed him.

He was greeted, as some part of him expected, by an empty hallway. Might as well hook a doorbell up to his room so people could accurately ding-dong-ditch him.

"K-Kiran?"

The voice came from below him?

He first saw the mane of green hair, the single unsightly sprig that tried to tickle his chin, yet was too low to reach. He followed its curl downward, passing the hairline and reaching the eyes, bright and blue. He recognized the innocent face - he'd summoned her a day prior. What he didn't recognize was the water pooling in those blue orbs.

Nino had tears in her bright, innocent eyes, and she was cradling a book like her life depended on it. The annoyance around Kiran's soul vanished, replaced with only patience as the little girl tried to get her mouth to match her voice and get out the words she wanted to say.

She reminded him so much of his little sister back home that this entire situation felt… normal.

She shoved the book pinned in her arms into his gut, her face bright red and her eyes closed shut so hard that she couldn't see that he'd doubled over due to the hardcover weapon she'd been carrying.

"Will you teach me how to read?"

He resisted the urge to cough his organs out and looked at her. Nino of the Black Fang. Possibly the most innocent character in the games focused around Bern. Obviously because of that, her life was torture.

His heart, nihilistic and distant, went out to the girl, no matter how shriveled it was. Her parents killed by Nergal's forces, leaving her to be taken in by a bunch of corrupted idiots who couldn't tell that Sonia was a Morph. She was treated like shit and trained to kill people.

Sonia's training was beating and hurting the pale flower before him, her quote-unquote family treated her nicely because they felt pity instead of stepping up and doing something to keep the child under their protection… well, protected. Gods, she didn't even know how to read!

But… she came to him? Lloyd was around somewhere south of the castle; he'd probably help if Kiran could compose a team to collect him.

But what if she didn't want Lloyd's help? He was still going to get the Fang, but he was talking the here and now.

He weighed his pros and cons. He knew that people who were apathetic in face of something that could change were assholes, but he'd sort of become one of those assholes with how he'd been acting the past few days. Did he want to deal with the greenie by himself, like she wanted him to, or was he supposed to ask for help and send her on her way.

Finally, could he even willingly refuse the puppy-dog eyes she was shooting him?

"Yeah, kiddo. Happily."

He caved, but something in him told the Summoner that it didn't seem to be a bad thing. Her smile was bright enough to shake the grogginess from his body, and she plopped herself down onto the bed. He sat down right next to her, interested in the book she wanted to learn about.

Whatever Anna's ritual had done to eject him into the world of Zenith had done its job well. He could understand the variety of languages that graced his eardrums with ease, despite knowing himself to be only fluent in English. He hadn't been able to differentiate a letter in one foreign alphabet from another's - yet his brain had become a codex of languages he shouldn't even have begun to comprehend.

Long story short, he could read nice and write good. Everything Nino currently needed to learn to read.

It was a book of fairy tales her hands were clamped down onto, whether she knew it or not, and he was surprised to find that they were the ones he'd been reading during his transition to diapers to shorts.

The brothers Grimm.

"Nino, I think you picked the best book to start with. Why don't we try out the tale of Cinderella? That was always one of my favorites!"

The way her face brightened to rival the sun was all the invitation he needed.

"T… tu? Tues? Is that right?"

"Close, actually. Give it a rounded center. It's like what you'd hear in the beginning of the word old."

"Old? Ol?"

"Just 'o'."

"O… tos? Toos… t-toes?"

At getting the word, Kiran pumped a fist and gave a cheer that infected her instantaneously. Her smile returned with a sugary vengeance, and the accompanying giggles could've been weaponized and peacefully ended the war against Emblia.

"So they cut off their toes?! Eeewwww! Shoes aren't that important!"

Oh if only the child knew. Girls would go nuts for a pair of shoes.

"Trust me, there are some people in the world that would willingly do that for riches and glory."

He chuckled a bit more, but was hit with the memories of his old ex-girlfriend, and instantly stopped laughing. God, she was such a…

Why were tears going down Nino's cheeks?

"That… sounds like something my mommy would do."

Oh shit… what had he done…?

"Nino…"

The bitch wasn't her mother… but Nino still saw her as one. He felt obligated as the one who brought her to Zenith to explain that to her.

But where did he pull her from? One where Eliwood's group had already stormed the Black Fang's hideout, or one where she was still under the illusion of a family?

He couldn't. He shouldn't.

But… he had to, didn't he? She trusted him enough to ask him to help her learn to read. She looked so much like his little sister.

Was he really going to add more lies to the girl whose life was comprised of them?

"Sonia wasn't your mother, Nino," he said, unwilling to let the world hurt her anymore than it already had. "She wasn't even human, or even Manakete. That's the sad truth."

He watched the emotions flash through her face. Fear, anxiety, a tad of betrayal. Then came the sadness; the anger; and then the speechlessness.

"I… I j-just…"

He wanted to backpedal. He couldn't. But he could apologize.

He was right. He just needed to stay away from Heroes. He was going to make their lives even worse than they already were.

"Nino, I'm sorry. I don't want you to be hurt anymore, but I went too far, an-"

"I JUST WANTED TO BE LOVED!"

The shout Nino let out made Kiran reel back, a habit from the past he thought he'd broken. Nino was trying desperately to keep from crying, he hands clenched on the book in her grasp so hard that her hands were turning stark white. What hurt most was the pain he saw in her eyes.

What was he supposed to do?! Kayla never broke down like this! God damn it, why did he always hurt people by accident?!

"When I wasn't good enough, she'd hit me… b-but I still wanted h-her affection. I...I-I tried to be cheerful," she stuttered out, voice breaking into a sob during the word. Kiran pulled the young teen into a hug, not minding the wetness that spread across the shoulder Nino had smothered herself in.

"Lloyd, Linus, and Uncle Legault… they treated me nice because they pitied me! I didn't know what to do! Do you know what it's like?! To be hurt by people you saw as your family?!"

Those bright blue eyes glared coldly into Kiran, his time for apologizing gone. The eyes that stabbed into him made him remember a time in the past that he'd thought he'd gotten over. When everything he tried was ignored for the achievements of someone better.

"I know far too much about how it feels."

Nino stopped glaring, having noticed the look on his face. The tears welled back up, and he pulled her back into another hug. She threw her arms around him and screamed into his shirt, her hands tight on his coat. He hugged her in return, a hand rubbing her mane of green hair as he patiently waited for the sobs wracking her body to subside. He honestly didn't care how long she cried into him, just busied himself with rubbing circles into her back.

It could've been minutes or hours that they spent hugging. He just took note of how she seemed to calm down and acted like she was his little sister. He planted a chaste kiss on her hair, giving a smile as he wiped the tears from the girl's face.

"I promise you, Nino, I'll always be there for you. You deserve a better hand than life dealt you, and I intend to exchange the cards when need be."

'To be what we both lost' was went unsaid.

"I swear on my life to make this place somewhere you aren't pitied."

This time, the gratitude Nino had went unsaid, she just flopped back onto the bed and looked at the ceiling with a whimsical look in her eyes. He laid down next to her and decided to humor Nino's awkward attempts to reach for his hand, letting her fingers weave into his. It reminded him of the good old days.

"Hey, Kiran?"

He let out a small hum, which she took as he intended and continued to ask her question.

"Can we do this again sometime," she mumbled quietly, a bit of red on her cheeks and innocence back into her eyes.

...what?

Did she mean the screaming and crying? No, he was just an idiot. Forget he ever said it!

"I doubt that even you'd be able to learn how to read in one day. We can practice whenever you want."

She grinned amazingly, mumbling, "Thank you… big… brother…"

All of the energy seemed to seep out of her and she immediately fell asleep, and Kiran just watched enviously. He didn't really care that she could sleep when he normally couldn't; Nino was cute even as she slept. Kiran grinned and pulled the cover onto the young mage until she looked nice and snug.

Big brother? Of all his titles and insulting nicknames from high school, that already ranked higher than his actual name. Even Kayla hadn't called him that, even in the privacy of their own home. He could certainly get used to it.

Alfonse barged into the Summoner's room, worried beyond belief. Nino had gone missing somewhere through the night, and no one had seen her yet. The innocent green made was just a kid!

"Kiran, have yo-"

The prince of Askr felt his soul exit his body one he realized Breidablik was pressed against his forehead, the hand holding it tense with a very tight finger on the trigger. Alfonse let out a noise similar to a squeak when he saw the pure, unadulterated bloodlust in Kiran's brown eyes, failed to have been masked by the extremely forced smile on his face.

"Wake her and I turn you into a bag of Hero Feathers."

Alfonse glanced to the lump in Kiran's bed, recognizing Nino's mane of green hair poking out from the white sheets. She was wrapped snugly beneath the swaths of covers, a content smile on her face.

"I… see you've found Nino…" Alfonse stuttered out, attempting to ignore the cold barrel of Breidablik pressing against his temple. Despite that, Kiran seemed to calm down, returning the gun to his hip and looking back to the girl with a warm smile on his face.

"We were going to start the day off with a Summoning session," Alfonse stated, remembering what had been decided before the chaos of losing the Pious Mage, "Anna requested your presence before we realized Nino was missing."

The prince of Askr whimpered as Kiran's head whipped back with an unholy vibe, his brown eyes cold and demonic.

"Al… fonse… I'm going to tear you in TWO!"

"WAIT, WHAT DID I DO?! WAIT! KIRAN, NO! STOP! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"