"For a school independently funded from any nation, it sure is big." A black haired young man said to himself. Rather than just a huge school alone, it was also surrounded by a huge city, on top of it being a metal island beyond the Far East.

He stood on one of the bridges hanging over a busy street that lead up to the school.

"Well, no point in wasting time. Classes might start tomorrow, but I don't want to get careless." He held a simple sack over his shoulder. He didn't have many belongings to bring with him to the school dorms.

He walked over to the location on the key he was given, looking over all the students and the school. A brown haired man with glasses and an older boy with a ponytail were talking to a small group of girls, a blondish haired girl who just looked like the definition of cheery was leading some grey haired girl, a green haired older girl was looking down from the roofs with an expression that brought back bad memories, a red haired woman was talking to a white haired kid, every person he saw had [something] that caught his eye.

As expected of people training or trained as Valkyries and Knights. It felt like it would be a mistake to just glaze over them. Odds were he was going to fight and die with them sooner or later, so he might as well get started on memorizing their faces.

When he reached his dorm, he started thinking back to his acceptance letter. Due to females having stronger or being more likely to have Honkai Energy resistance, a minority of soldiers and students were actually male. Which meant there was a good chance he would be rooming with girls.

He just really hoped that they would be reasonable if that was the case.

Eventually he reached one of the dorm sections he was placed at, and using the key, he took a first look at where he would likely be living.

Off to his right was a small kitchen that seemed to have been in use not too long ago, so he guessed his roommates were already here.

On the opposite side was a TV with a low table and cushions in front of it, while a little deeper inside and down the hall was an open but empty room and some closed doors.

He assumed the empty room was his, but decided to see if anyone was inside to introduce himself before he got too comfortable. There was always the chance that his roommates would be uncomfortable with him being a guy and request the staff for a change.

He first set his sack against the wall and walked over to the bedrooms and knocked on the first door, and as expected heard a female voice. "Yeah? Come in!"

"I'm the-" He immediately cut himself off as he was caught off guard by the sight in front of him.

It wasn't that the Valkyrie in front of him was incredibly beautiful, though that was still the case, what with most Valkyries and Knights having exceptional appearances in one way or another, she was no different, with bright, shining blue eyes and wavy, eye catchingly white hair.

It was the fact that she was currently half naked, in the middle of zipping up a hoodie over her bra, pausing in surprise like him.

Years from now to his friends, he would blame his lack of human contact, especially with women, and lack of internet access for the way he froze up and forgetting how to speak.

"Er-"

"Huh, I have to say you have a lot of guts to perv on a girl so openly, but at least you have good taste to choose me over any of the other girls in this school." She said proudly and suddenly composed.

"What? No I-"

"No, no, I get it. I'm the picture of beauty after all. But it's still no good to sneak into the school just to get a peek, but if you're a real gentleman, you'd hike up your shirt to give me an equal opportunity." Adam found his possible roommate liked to say some outrageous things.

"What?"

"What, don't tell me you're sexist or embarrassed after coming this far. You obviously just burned the sight of my body into your brains, so at least give a girl the same thing. It's gender equality."

He would also later blame this on his confusion, regardless of what the girl in front of him would say years from now, but he ultimately followed her directions and showed off his trained body to her.

Valkyries and Knights also generally had...colorful...personalities to go with their appearances. But this was definitely out of his expectations in every way possible.

"Wow, for a pervert you sure do have a good body. You're looks aren't half bad either. In the future, instead of peeking on girls, you should probably just ask them out normally." She said nonchalantly, tilting her head while looking at him.

Thankfully, he caught his voice after her last comment. "Hold on, it was on me that I didn't announce who I was after knocking, but I'm not a pervert or anything. I'm gonna be one of your roommates as a future Knight in training and came to introduce myself."

"Really? I guess that makes more sense than a pervert having the guts to come in so openly. I was hoping for a girl as hot as one of the sempai living with us, but I guess you aren't a bad trade." She said putting her index fingers and thumbs together and capturing him in her view, completely ignoring the fact that her cleavage was still out in the open.

Already getting used to her personality, he sighed, "Can you zip up your hoodie and let me put my shirt down already? Also, you probably shouldn't let someone in if you aren't entirely proper."

"It's rare I get such a nice guy body to look at, so I might as well give you an eyeful just so we're equal. And what do I have to hide? I look amazing, and it's not like I care what our other two roommates see me in."

"I've heard that roommates lose a lot of modesty with each other, but I don't think this quite what they meant." He said, still keeping his shirt up.

"Well, I guess I'm satisfied for now. I'm sure I'll get some good eyefulls later in the year like after you shower. C'mon, I'll introduce you to our roommates, they're both senior students a year above us, I think the students we replaced graduated early or something." She zipped up her hoodie and looked appropriately normal to where he was positive no more pervert accusations would come from a third party.

"Does this count as sexual harassment?" He asked her while moving out of the way, letting his shirt back down. "Because suddenly I'm worried about living with a girl even though I'm pretty sure it should be the other way around."

"I hope you're not the prudish type because otherwise living together will be hard on the both of us. Kevin! Mei-senpai! Our other roommate is here!" He paused as she knocked on the doors and called out the older students. One year older and named Mei? What were the odds-

"Did you need help moving in Kiana-cha-" An older, familiar girl cut herself off as she opened the door, and Adam suddenly found another reason to want a room change. "Eh!? Adam!? What are you doing here!?"

He fought down the grimace to look neutral. "I can't believe it either. What are the odds that I would end up in the same school, much less the same room as you of all people." It was almost as if it had been pre-arranged, but family influence and aversion aside, he knew better than to say such an accusation even as a joke/murmur to himself.

"Wait, you two know each other?"

"Adam I-I can't believe you're here!" Once the fact that he was honestly, truly, unfortunately, in front her, had hit her, she rushed at him and pulled him into a hug. This time, he couldn't hold back his grimace.

"Wait you two know each other?"

The final door opened up to show, stunningly in both ways, a male student with headphones around his neck who also had a startling resemblance to Kiana. "Is everyone alright or is all the yelling for something serious?" When he saw his squadmate for a year hugging onto a new student with slight tears in the corner of her eyes, he looked between them before being hit with a realization. "Er, why don't we move to the table and get properly acquainted."

"Right." Adam jumped in, hoping it would get Mei off him, alas, she simply pulled him arm and sat them across the other sibling pair who sat cross legged compared to their seiza.

With Mei blinking her eyes clear, Kiana staring at Adam accusingly, and Adam sighing in reluctance, Kevin took the opportunity to take the lead and move the conversation along.

"Well, I'm Kevin Kaslana. As you might have guessed, I'm this hard-head's big brother. I'm currently a 2nd Year student in school, but I'm already ranked as an A Rank Knight, so there might be times where I'm away if I ever get picked on missions, unlike our sempai, I didn't want to graduate early and took the option to continue with my training and education. Kiana here's already been introduced to Mei earlier today. Since my sister will be in your year and is currently unranked, I hope you get along and watch over her when she needs it, but don't be afraid to reject whatever weird ideas she gets. Let's get along." He rubbed Kiana's head before bowing it along with his own head.

"Hey! You're gonna give him a weird impression of me at this rate!" Kiana complained.

Adam deadpanned. "A bit too late for that considering you had me flash you for your mistake."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it! I saw those beastly eyes wandering my body while your lust turned you bright red! You want to hold me just as much as I do beautiful girls!" She pointed her finger at him lightly. Before he could correct her, her brother awkwardly tossed in his unhelpful cents.

"...I don't think I want to know what's going on just yet, but you should probably know that the walls are thin except for the shower and where the other students live. If Kiana somehow tricks a poor girl into coming here, I have extra headphones if you don't have your own, and if you do have weird tastes and like Kiana back, just make sure to keep it to your rooms and the shower and give us some sort of warning."

"Hold on, aren't you too accepting!" He commented incredulously.

Kevin shrugged and gave a small laugh. "Kiana takes after our old man, who likes to hit on women as a pasttime. Last year Mei and I also had to deal with our seniors, well, let's call it skinship, a lot. They rarely slept in separate rooms, but thankfully they weren't all that loud so wearing headphones helped a lot." That felt embarrassing coming off second hand, but somehow he saw how that could have helped them adjust. He and Mei had slight blushes compared to the laughing Kaslanas.

However, something seemed to register to Mei and both her blush and formalities disappeared. "Wait, I don't have a problem with Kiana, but what was that about flashing and them getting together? I don't think I approve of any of that." Adam fidgeted. He was hoping she was still too out of it to notice.

"Oh, he walked into my room while changing and stared at my naked body." Kiana enlightened her nonchalantly.

"You were hardly naked! And as if you're one to talk! It was obvious you were grinding meat over my stomach with the way your eyes sparkled."

"I don't approve of that type of relationship." Mei said seriously, furrowing her brows.

"Uh, since you say that, what exactly is your relationship with this guy Mei-sempai?" Kiana asked without realizing the minefield of history that was.

Mei's hands went to the back of his head and he inwardly sighed, but didn't fight it since what would come next would be rude to the white haired siblings if he did.

"Kevin, Kiana-chan, this is my little brother, Adam, we'll be in your hands this year." She said while bowing together similar to how the pair in front of them did.

"EEEEEHHHHHH!?" Kiana jumped as her head swerved between them. Keven meanwhile nodded himself while looking to the side while murmuring, "...I thought it was a long shot given the odds, but..."

"Y-you two don't even look that alike though! Unless...!" She compared their looks. Mei's hair was a darkish purple along with her eyes that often changed between dark blue and purple. Adam had black hair and piercing yellowish-gold eyes. They were both pretty tall and looked Japanese but...

"I'm gonna stop you there," Adam interrupting, not liking where that train of thought might lead her, "We have the same parents and everything. No adoptions or anything like that. Not all siblings look like twins."

"Huh, it's not like you're wrong, but it's still pretty surprising." She sat back down, looking between them and thinking about the weird reunion they had.

"Trust me, it's not as if I was expecting to see her either. I mean, what are the chances we'd meet up like this?" This time, he vividly sighed.

"...but I'm glad that we did."

Adam didn't reply to that and just tightened his fists against his legs under the table.

Mei couldn't help the morose look that came over her for a second, but looked at the Kaslanas. "Kevin, Kiana-chan, I'll help Adam get settled in his room. Afterwards, I'll show Adam around the school, if you want to join, why not start getting ready?"

"...I'm not sure if I want to spend much time around that weird girl, but that's not a bad plan." Adam stood up and grabbed his things, Mei following him into the room.

Mei watched Adam take out his belongings before closing the door and walking closer. She didn't know why he had so few things, but it gave her a sense that the things he had lacked individuality. They were all impersonal, and with the exception of a handheld console all lacked something personal to the owner.

"...have you been...well...?"

"...As well as I could be given the circumstances." He answered her well meaning question with his back turned to her.

"Adam why...why are you here?"

"The same reasons why anybody is here I guess. To fight the honkai. To become strong. Something among those lines."

"But you're different! You know that-! That-!" Mei became more distressed and tightened her hands in frustration.

"...everyone who becomes a warrior probably has their own goals, but one thing they all share is resolve." He answered her question indirectly. Whatever it was the two were speaking of, it caused Mei to give off a sob and hug Adam from behind.

"...Just don't be reckless...I'll be watching closely to make sure..."

"You're such a sap." He sighed out lightly. "The way St. Freya handles its valkyries...I mean students, is different from other schools and nations. It's why I chose it. And probably why you did too. With that in mind, you don't need to be this clingy you know."

His response made her tighten her arms just slightly as she began to smile. Their past still hung over them, and they hadn't gotten any closer, but his attempt to comfort her and how he could tell why she chose this school told her that he still cared. It gave her hope.

"Adam, I already decided last year that I wouldn't run away from you anymore. So please, don't run away from me either. Regardless of how St. Freya handled its Knights and Valkyries, let's not use that as an excuse to put off talking, okay?" She wouldn't allow them to separate for years on. Not again.

—-

"So I wasn't the only one who thought that was oddly awkward right?" Kiana asked her big brother when the door closed.

He simply rubbed the back of his head and gave a forced laugh. "Well...I don't exactly have all the details, but from what Mei has said in the past, they have a lot of...history...to work around. Despite what happened earlier, I hope you get along with Adam and help him out when he needs it."

She gave a thumbs up that pointed to her herself. "Heh, sure I will! Whether he's an lucky pervert or a real one, Kaslana's will always help others who need it."

He could only give an awkward laugh at that. At least Adam had an easier time dealing with Kiana given her openly...horny personality. Last year he ended up forcing their aunt to referee a fight between him and Mei when the exact same incident occurred, right down to how far undressed the girl was. He wondered if this room was cursed or something.

"Anyways, enough about details you can't give me, are you and Mei-sempai dating! I've been waiting to ask for when she couldn't hear us!" She leaned forward with stars in her eyes.

He leaned backward and turned his face away. "Haha...er, between you and me, no, but she's really warmed up to me in comparison to how she was when we first met. She was kind of an ice queen to everyone. Sometimes I get the feeling she likes me, but I didn't exactly have anyone else that can tell if that's true or not. Mei's not the most...social...person around." Although that's not to say she wasn't caring. Being a big sister probably helped with that, given her interactions with Kiana were pretty maternal. He had hope it would turn warmer sooner or later, especially with her brother here too.

"Well lucky for you, you got me now! As your little sister and personal Cupid, I'll do my best to have such a graceful sister-in-law."

He sweatdropped at that, but let it go. "So, you got all your belongings sent here already? Might as well help you get your room all homey while we wait for Mei and her brother to get their, uh, business, done. When classes start things will be hectic for you guys for awhile if you go through anything like I did."

—-

"Narukami Adam right?"

Ignoring Kiana's confused face that was clearly asking him a silent question, he turned to his would be classmate.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only male in this class. He noticed another guy that was meant to be a first year a few classrooms away, but it didn't look like their paths were likely to meet.

With red eyes and long matching inner colored hair to match, he was glared at by arrogant eyes that said everything. Her uniform was worn loosely and carefreely, but not to the point of drawing eyes too strongly, much like Kiana's.

"I can't accept that I have to be in the same class as weak looking as you. If you're anything like that other boy, you'll only be holding us back." Considering his fellow Knight was rather sickly looking, it was a relatively fair comment.

That being said, it only had that much basis. He wasn't sure if she was sexist or just arrogant, but she was clearly dismissive of him without even bothering to give him a chance.

Unfortunately, it wasn't too rare to fight a girl like this. Considering that women were both the main protectors of the world, and were also the ones most likely to live their full lives, a lot of important positions in the world were commonly held by women. While the status who wasn't entirely flipped in their favor, it wouldn't be wrong to say women held superiority over men, although most wouldn't act like it.

"Hey! I'll have you know Adam's body is really well muscled!" While he was trying to find out a way through this mess, Kiana, hair in braids unfortunately, jumped in, not helping at all.

"Hmph. Already working on flirting with other girls?" She scoffed and her eyes moved between him and Adam.

"...it's not what you think, believe it or not. She just happened to see my chest since we ended up being roommates." He half lied, hoping to direct a conclusion that wasn't too unbelievable.

"Vollerei-san, regardless of what you think, it's impolite to be so directly accusational of someone that's meant to be your new comrade and classmate." Walking forward, uniform done properly and contrasting to the two girls about to argue in front of him, was a blonde girl that everyone in the class knew.

"Tch. Is any business of yours "Immortal Blade"?"

"It should come to no surprise when you choose to make a confrontation during class time." Around them, the other girls watched in awe and curiosity of the events happening around them. "In any case, I don't approve of how you choose to go about your feelings. As for you Narukami-san, while I approve of the fact that you're trying to avoid conflict, simply staying silent as you have will do you no favors either."

"...I know that much. What would you suggest then, as someone who stands as one of this generation's strongest hero."

"Unfortunately, as boys such as yourself are uncommon fighters against the Honkai, it's true that you have much more to prove for other girls to accept and be used to your presence. As such, why don't I recommend Himeko-sensei to let us spar during our first battle class?"

So no matter where he goes, he still has to prove himself then? It was in a different way compared to what he was used to, if he was being technical about it.

Fine then. Even if he didn't like it, she was right. Since the moment class started he could feel the other girls gaze at him in curiosity.

"...I'll agree to a spar then. But still, shouldn't my opponent be her instead of you? She might just make another excuse to get mad if it's not her I'm fighting."

The blonde ponytailed girl smiled. "I don't believe Vollerei-san to be blind. She'll accept you provided you reveal to her your strength."

He looked over to the girl in question. She was frowning, but rolled her eyes and relented. "If you can put up a decent fight against an inheritor of a Divine Key, I won't be able to deny that you might not be completely useless after all."

He held his fist up and tightened it with his eyes closed. If he was afraid of failure, he wouldn't have decided to train as a Knight. Or rather, it's because he was training as a knight that he no longer held a fear of failure.

"Then it's decided. Ataegina-san, no, Durandal, the Holy Blade, as a Knight, I accept your offer to fight in Vollerei-san's place. I won't shame myself as Achilles, the Blessed Blade."