Chapter 18: That which comes between (My desire to be a hero)(What am I)
Following the cataclysmic battle at Kamino, UA begins its initiative to move its students onto campus for their safety. No one is under any expectation this will go well, especially considering the fact that they'll have to negotiate with Chaldea. When one side holds all the cards what will the final result be?
I have no idea what's happening or how I managed to get another chapter out so fast. I have been looking forward to getting to the dorms for a very long time so here we finally are. There are a few cracks in the armor of Chaldea's Master now. Who's going to see through it?
It had been an exhausting day.
But it wasn't going as poorly as they'd thought it would be.
Most of the parents were completely on board with the plan to have their children live on campus for their safety and continued training.
Even the parents of students who had been injured during the previous incident were relatively easy to convince.
But.
They had a rather difficult case ahead of them.
At least that's what they thought.
Mitsuki Bakugo was immediately willing to let them care for her son, going as far as to apologize for the hassle.
They had won her faith with the press conference and his successful rescue.
And so, after overcoming a mountain of anxiety only to find that it had all been for nothing, Aizawa and All Might left the Bakugo residence.
Only for Katsuki to stop them before they could leave.
"I've got a few things to ask." He said plainly.
"What is it, young man?"
Bakugo paused as he collected his thoughts.
"Have you heard anything about that Dragon bastard- I mean… Relnor…?"
"Ah. Yes. We received word this morning that he's already made a near full recovery!" All Might responded happily.
"You're going to Chaldea to talk about this dorm stuff later aren't you?"
"Ah! Yes. They are our last stop today."
Flashes of Nathan commanding the Chaldean heroes at Kamino sprung to the forefront of Bakugo's thoughts. Not to mention that dream they'd shared.
He wanted to say something about what he'd experienced but the words would not come together.
When recalling everything he'd seen he felt like the gears wouldn't properly fit together in his mind.
"He's… Not like us…"
All Might and Aizawa both had no idea how to take that statement.
"And. About Deku."
Bakugo's expression shifted uneasily.
"What is he to you?"
All Might's entire body locked up on the spot.
He couldn't well tell the truth of the matter despite the pain lying to his student brought him.
"He's my student… Just like you.."
Bakugo leaned back on his heels.
He nodded to himself before turning away.
"Ok. Well. If you can't say, that's fine… Thanks…"
With that he returned to his home.
All Might clutched at his heart somewhat before returning to the car.
They had two more stops ahead of them and he'd elected to handle the next one by himself.
They were nervous and excited to have All Might there.
But.
Inko made up her mind the other day.
Izuku had returned home badly injured so many times.
It was only a matter of time before he risked some kind of permanent injury.
And she had seen it herself.
The ultimate fate of the one her son looked up to so fervently.
That terrible bloody battle he'd barely survived.
Not to mention.
Nathan Relnor and Bakugo Katsuki, some of Izuku's best friends, had been abducted right out from under their noses.
They were fine now, sure, or at least they seemed to be, but that did not take away from the fact that it had happened.
She made her stance clear, determined to protect her son from that fate.
Izuku protested of course, but he protested with words she'd already heard.
"My injuries are something I did to myself! It was no fault of UA!"
"Nathan said the same thing to me…" She said quietly.
"Wh-What-"
"He called the other day to tell me he was ok… And. He blamed himself entirely. It was so casual it almost made me sick. That was just normal to him. Have you noticed that? Are you doing anything to help him?"
That caught them both off guard.
Nathan Relnor was an exceptional case. He lived in a pro hero organization and had clearly taken part in countless battles.
Something like that probably was normal to him.
But should it be?
Shouldn't they be doing something?
All Might floundered.
Part of the reason they could only sit by and watch was because Chaldea would not inform them of anything to do with that boy's history.
He knew. He could see it so clearly.
The outlines of an enormous weight that had torn that poor boy to shreds.
But-
"I will support Izuku's dream, if he still wants to be a hero then so be it, but there are other schools he can enroll in…"
Izuku dashed off under the weight of that declaration, but quickly returned bearing a letter.
He was fine going somewhere else, as long as he could continue on the path he'd chosen for himself.
That letter made him feel like a real hero.
That letter showed him that he truly wanted to live up to that feeling.
Without him even noticing, Izuku had already broken free of his shadow and was taking strides down his own heroic path.
All Might swore to them that he would guide Izuku even more fervently than before. He would nurture and protect him as a rising hero, as someone who could fill his former role as the symbol of peace.
With all of that, the foundation Inko had used to push back against her son and UA began to crumble.
All Might was before her promising that he would train him even if it cost him his life.
But there was enough death and loss in this world.
"Don't sacrifice your life… Live and look after him… If you can promise me that, then I will allow this…" She said finally.
It had been considerably more difficult than All Might anticipated, but he left the Midoriya residence with his head held high.
With such a strong base, Izuku would be a fine hero indeed.
And now there was only one stop left.
"Nezu is already on his way, we'll meet up at the designated spot and head to Chaldea from there." Aizawa said as All Might got back into the car.
He was silent in response, after the emotional rollercoaster he'd just been through he needed a moment to collect himself.
This was their final stop…
They pulled up to a nondescript warehouse.
Nezu waved at them from his place in front of the vehicle he'd taken to get there.
"Are you two ready?"
"No but we're here anyway," Aizawa said with a looming sense of dread. He'd called Chaldea no less than 50 times over the last semester and had grown increasingly frustrated with their methods. And now he was going to have to bow down to them and beg them to release their charge.
"From the sounds of it everything is going well for the rest of the student body, but this is going to be the most challenging negotiation. We have nothing to offer Chaldea in terms of safety. Their heroes are powerful and numerous, their operation is vast and highly funded, Nathan is safer here than he is with us. But we must ask anyway."
All Might and Aizawa nodded as the garage door before them slid open, revealing a large military vehicle.
The hatch on the back of it opened up, beckoning to them.
"Well then. Shall we?" Nezu said as he hopped on Aizawa's shoulder.
"Into the belly of the beast…" Aizawa grumbled as they stepped into the Shadow Border.
The second they were inside everything was different.
They were inside of a proper facility.
Looking back there was no hint of the vehicle they'd entered from, just another pure white hallway extending back.
A strong disquieting feeling filled the three of them as they realized they were now trapped in Chaldea's halls.
"Please be at ease."
A stern voice came from the hallway before them.
As far as any of them could remember, no one had been there before they looked back to check their surroundings.
"My name is Odysseus, welcome teachers from UA, to Chaldea."
The man in brilliant white armor gave the three of them a bow.
"I know the journey to reach this point has been long and hard for all of you, and I understand you believe the worst of it is before you now, but know that we here hold no ill will towards you."
The impression he gave off certainly fit a figure of legend like Odysseus.
He almost gave off a palpable aura of adventure and heroism.
To think that someone like this still existed in this world.
"Ah! Well that's comforting to hear! We were granted an audience with the Leader of Chaldea concerning Nathan Relnor's relocation." Nezu said cheerfully.
"Yes of course. Right this way. He's been quite eager to speak to all of you."
Odysseus turned, his cape flowing behind him as he led them through the sterling halls of Chaldea.
They could feel countless eyes following them as they made a few turns, passing through a nearly empty mess hall before arriving at a room with the word Meeting written above it.
"This is quite the facility, tell me, how did we get here?" Nezu asked.
"One of our heroes has a quirk that allows them to link doors together, when you passed through the mobile fortress's doors you arrived at our proper facility," Odysseus said easily.
That was an exceptionally powerful quirk if true, but not entirely outside of the realm of possibility.
"... How is a facility this secretive allowing one of its wards to attend UA?" Aizawa grumbled under his breath.
"To put it simply, we adhere to the wishes of the Master of Chaldea."
"So he's ok with us being here?" Nezu asked.
"Of course. You would not be here if he was not." Odysseus knocked on the door but did not receive a response. The occupants of the room were clearly not quite ready.
"Odysseus was it?" All Might spoke up.
"Yes. Is there something I can help you with, All Might?"
He mulled over what he'd caught glimpses of at the Kamino ward. He thought about the conversations he'd had with Nathan as well as Bakugo and Inko's words to him earlier today.
"I've seen many things recently… I was wondering if there was a possibility that Chaldea could be more open with us in regards to Nathan Relnor. I… I simply wish to help him in whatever way I can."
Odysseus paused for a moment.
A knock sounded from the other side of the door.
"It sounds like they are ready. I must warn the three of you. Chaldea is poised to risk everything depending on how your meeting goes. Everything you discuss in that room is a critical secret that cannot escape our halls. Do you understand?"
The three of them nodded slowly.
"Very well then. I wish you luck," Odysseus bowed before the door swung open, beckoning them forward.
The lights were out, save for one illuminating a large table and three seats.
"Let's just get this over with," Aizawa said, pushing into the room and taking one of the chairs for himself. Nezu hopped off of his shoulder and took the elevated stool as All Might sat on his other side.
They heard the door slide closed behind them.
The true Master of Chaldea sat before them, meeting them face to face for the first time.
This secretive individual had never dared show his face.
The rest of the lights turned on, revealing that enigmatic figure to them.
"I know Odysseus probably already gave you a proper welcome, but I might as well follow his act since this is technically the first time we've met."
Aizawa felt his heart stop.
His mind went blank as it struggled to piece together what it was seeing.
All Might felt every word he'd wanted to open with crash together in his throat as he beheld the person sitting before them.
Nezu's expression shifted uneasily as his mind raced to connect the sequence of events properly.
"Welcome, my teachers. My name is Nathan Relnor. I am Chaldea's Final Master. It's a pleasure to finally, truly, meet you."
He wore a pure white uniform accentuated with a few black lines across his torso and arm. It was formal but they all got the sense that it would serve well on a battlefield.
He was difficult to recognize as the student they'd been teaching for an entire semester.
"I know you probably have a lot of questions. I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities but please understand this. Chaldea is a subordinate organization to a much larger conglomerate back in London. We are already not well loved at home so we have to tread exceedingly carefully or risk being blacklisted and ripped apart. Any secrets I withhold are for Chaldea's general safety as well as my own."
His speech was measured, it held a completely different rhythm than the overly casual boy they knew.
Nezu recovered the fastest.
"Are you well young man? Or do you have a more proper title I should use here?"
"I am healing about as well as expected. We've run into a few snags during my rehabilitation but… Well it's difficult to explain but I have been forbidden from taking part in any combat or training operation until my recovery is complete. As for a title, I have no preference, I hold a position of authority here but I am also 16. I will not force people over twice my age to refer to me highly if they do not wish to."
"Well! That's good to hear! I suppose you're aware of why we're here. Although why you chose to invite me specifically is somewhat of a mystery."
"Indeed. The dorm relocation initiative right? On the face of it I am in agreement with you. I would like to stay with my classmates if possible but as you can see I've got a bit extra on my work load than they do."
Aizawa finally sputtered to life, "Relnor- Why… Why are you in charge here?"
Nathan smiled at him, a smile full of a deep love and an even deeper regret. He placed his left hand on the table, the glove he wore had no back, exposing the bright red symbols emblazoned on his hand.
"That's a dangerous area to get into, but… Well… I was brought to Chaldea at a young age as a candidate for my position. At the time I was fully capable of filling it but I was much too young so I was excluded from any formal operations. That was the only thing that saved my life when someone sabotaged us and nearly destroyed Chaldea. Each and every one of the other 47 candidates perished in the blink of an eye."
All Might's eyes widened. At such a young age- He was forced to fight with such a burden?
"The work was too important to ignore so with all other options exhausted I was deployed. And I've been in this position ever since. It's a little awkward since my role of Master is not necessarily equivalent to 'operations manager' or even 'owner' of Chaldea, but there is no one here holding a rank above me anymore".
All of the humans that could possibly allow Chaldea to rebuild their rayshifting capability had been removed from that veritable army of hundreds of heroic spirits. As it existed now, Chaldea was a clear and obvious threat to the entire world. They had only escaped with their lives because of the words of a key Magician.
"How will moving you to our dorms interfere with your work here?" Nezu cut in, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.
"Well… I had an idea about that. I think one that could be mutually beneficial in the long run."
"Oh?"
"We move the Shadow Border, the vehicle through which entry to Chaldea proper is permitted, onto UA's campus and publicly merge our organizations in the name of security. Chaldea will retain its ability to be an emergency response service for heroes while providing a tangible measure for how far UA is willing to go to protect its students."
"... Your operation is very secretive though, with this move you will be stepping into the public eye, you know that right?"
"Currently this country is in dire need of support. We have the good will of the pro heroes we've assisted and the begrudging acceptance of the World Hero Association. We can fill in the gaps anonymously to help you get back on your feet for a time. We cannot provide you with any permanent aid but we've decided that this is how we can best smooth the transitional period."
All Might and Aizawa were flabbergasted. Nezu and Nathan were speaking on levels they were aware of as pro heroes that had to work within the system, but taking the state of the world into consideration and how that could move and warp things for both Chaldea and society as a whole?
All Might found it within him to speak.
"Young Relnor?"
"Yes?"
"I- I am curious my boy… Why UA?"
"... Well. To be honest, my first choice was to stay here, but many of the heroes here pointed out to me over and over again that it was in my best interest to go out and learn from others that are not a part of the larger organizations I've been immersed in for my entire life." He drummed his fingers on the table before looking up at his teachers. "And I think. There's some truth to that. I am thinking about things I've kept hidden away for a long time. I'm talking to people who aren't inherently afraid of me… I. I feel like I'm moving now. And I want to keep moving more. So. With some conditions to ensure Chaldea's continued operation. I would like to join the dorm initiative."
It was a truly indomitable smile that crossed his face at that moment.
"Very well. We'll be happy to do what we can to accommodate!" Nezu said enthusiastically.
What followed were talks of logistics. Of the type of public announcements that would need to be made. Where Chaldea would be allowed to park the Shadow Border, and most importantly…
"This is… Admittedly kind of a selfish ask but… Will it be possible for Chaldean heroes to roam the 1-A dorm area… They're all very protective of me and if I'm going to be spending all of my time in the dorms or at class they'll erm- I'm afraid it will drop morale."
It was perhaps the first wrinkle in the impossible new Nathan Relnor they were finally getting to know.
A hint that he was still an embarrassed teenager, asking for selfish indulgences instead of weighing the pros and cons of his actions against the needs of the greater world.
Nezu thought on it for a moment before answering enthusiastically.
"As long as they are not disruptive, having Chaldean pro heroes on campus for the students to interact with may be a boon, they'll learn of different ways of doing things straight from your organization!"
He'd framed it as a net benefit, but logistically this was opening them up to many new problems. Who knew if Chaldea was as secure as it seemed to be?
But.
"Thank you so much! I'll let them all know to be on their best behavior if they're on campus!" Nathan said with an energy he had yet to display during their meeting.
"Very good! Well! I think we have some additional planning to do between our respective organizations but everything should be good to go for this partnership! I'm looking forward to it Relnor-san!"
"Likewise!"
The three teachers got up and exited the meeting room, a thousand new questions swirling in their minds. But their prime objective had been met. The Master of Chaldea agreed to their proposal…
"Oh. And. Um. About me being the leader here. That still needs to be kept secret, even from the other faculty. I trust the three of you but… Well. You have your own suspicions don't you?" Nathan called out just as they crossed into the hall.
"Ah. Of course. We did agree to keep everything we discussed here a secret no?"
All Might and Aizawa nodded mutely.
But All Might paused for a moment.
"Before. Back when young Midoriya was confronted by Shigaraki… You told me that we were nothing alike because you fought for yourself…" All Might began carefully.
"Hm? Yes I did say that."
"But. Hearing you now, about how you stood tall in the face of whatever adversity fell upon Chaldea back then. I think you are a lot more heroic than you give yourself credit for. You stood with that weight on your shoulders just like I did."
Nathan's smile drew thin as something threatened to spill out of him.
It seemed like he only barely managed to contain it.
"No."
He shook his head.
"All Might. There is one huge difference that makes us nothing alike."
"What's that my boy?"
"You chose your burdens. Mine were forced upon me."
As they walked they realized they had no idea how to leave the facility.
At least until they were approached by someone else.
Well. Perhaps the word someone was being strained a little.
His presence alone put them on guard.
His presence alone told them that there was nothing they could do should they earn his ire.
He only barely registered as another person.
"Ah. Good. You must be looking for the way out. Follow me."
Deified Arjuna floated ahead of them, beckoning for them to follow.
"Er. Thank you- sir?"
"I am simply Arjuna," He said without looking back at them.
"Arjuna huh? I do have something I couldn't bring myself to ask Relnor…" Aizawa began as they walked.
"Speak and I will hear."
"... What exactly has your organization gotten so wrapped up in that you cannot operate publicly. We know next to nothing about you, your capabilities, or the numerous heroes you have waiting in the wings."
"We serve humanity. That is what we've always done. That is the banner under which Master united us. To save the world. We cannot speak on his behalf, nor of the true nature of things here, but know that as long as you are here you are on the knife's edge of the world you know and the world that exists underneath it."
"The world that exists underneath…"
"You do not know the other side. I do not speak of a criminal underbelly. I speak of a side of the world that chooses to remain obscure except under extreme circumstances."
"..."
There was no way to refute those words.
Stepping into Chaldea really did feel like they were on a different planet in terms of atmosphere.
"I am sure with time understanding will follow, but there is only one reason you need to be afraid of us. If you seek to threaten Master, we will sever you from this world. He sought no compensation for his goodness. He walked without hesitation. He embraced suffering and sadness. He looked straight ahead. These are things I found beautiful in him once. But looking at him now. I wish for him to walk where I cannot."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I. No. All of us. We all wish for him to be free of his position, and his burdens. But he cannot let go currently. The enormous weight crushing him down is the only thing holding him in place. His Fate is too thin. His soul is too heavy. He needs to build up strength that has nothing to do with power in order to become himself. And."
Arjuna paused and turned to look them in the eyes.
"Despite recent setbacks. Many of us still hold that leaving him with you is key to that. And so we will lease him to you so that you may guide him away from us."
It was difficult to find the words to respond with. Deified Arjuna turned around before anyone had a chance to recover.
"We will do everything in our power to help him find his own path. This much I swear." Aizawa said confidently.
Deified Arjuna cracked the smallest of smiles. He did not turn to show it to them, merely letting out a satisfied grunt.
"Do not forget. You have our power behind you as well. We will all walk towards his new future together."
There was some time between UA bringing the dorms to their attention and their actual completion. Essentially they would be ready by the time summer break was officially over.
That was something of a miracle to Nathan's eye, but then again he and a few dozen Servants had turned a deserted island into an industrial park complete with an actual space program in just as little time.
In the meantime he was focused on recovery.
No matter the severity of any given "Fight" Nathan found himself in, Sut Typhon tried to lend him his aid. It was a massive strain on his already weak magic circuits so he would have to avoid anything that resembled combat until they either figured out a work-around or the root of the issue.
He also had to deal with the fallout of being grounded which meant being cooped up in his room with no Pokemon cards or video games unless a sufficient number of Servants were willing to play with him.
It was truly hellish.
Thankfully they let him keep his phone, deciding that restricting his ability to communicate with his friends would be cruel to them rather than a punishment for him.
His phone exploded with well wishes from all of his classmates, as well as a surprising number of people from other classes.
Today it seemed it was Nejire's turn to bombard him with questions.
At least it was for a little bit.
UNMITIGATED: Typing is such a pain! Come hang out with us!
DISASTER: Who is us in this case?
UNMITIGATED: Yuyu and Tamaki! Probably going to eat soon!
UNMITIGATED: Are you busy?
UNMITIGATED: ?
DISASTER: I'm a little grounded but I think they'll let me go.
UNMITIGATED: YOU GOT GROUNDED!?
DISASTER: Just a little.
UNMITIGATED: WHY?
DISASTER: They still want me to socialize though so they might let me go.
DISASTER: I did a series of very stupid things
UNMITIGATED: THAT'S SO UNFAIR! YOU HAVE TO HANG OUT WITH US NOW!
DISASTER: I'll ask and get back to you
UNMITIGATED: OK!
Nathan lazily hit the coms button on the side of his bed.
"Hey can I go hang out with some of my classmates?"
"I don't see why not?" The familiar voice of Merlin came through, "Go have fun on your little date!"
"It's not a date. And I'm still grounded aren't I?"
"Visiting your classmates does not violate the terms of being grounded unless you challenge them to a pokemon card battle." Edmond piped up.
"Alright I'll see where we're going I guess…"
After texting her back and forth a few more times he found himself on the back of Huang Feihu's bull riding towards the designated restaurant at full speed.
It was a bit on the excessive side but Chaldea did not operate any other way.
"Here we are my lord, I will linger in the area for a time so when you wish to return to Chaldea please call for me."
"You don't have to just wait around, you know, you can do your own thing if you want. I'm sure there are some shops nearby that might have something for you."
"..." Huang Feihu took a moment to look around before his eyes found a nearby bar.
"Don't drink too much. I still need to get back."
"Hahaha! I would never! Hahaha!" He gave his young master a playful slap on the back.
"Ooooh!? Who's this guy? Is he your dad?"
The two of them turned to Nejire as she bolted towards them, ramming into Nathan at full speed.
It was only due to a substantial amount of practice being bodily tackled by his own Servants that Nathan did not get knocked flat.
"Hello Nejire. And no, Huang Feihu is not my father."
"I am flattered at the assumption young miss, please do take care though, my lord is still on the mend."
"Your lord? You some kind of secret rich kid?" Yuyu asked as she approached, leaving Amajiki to his own devices.
"No not really, some Chaldeans are just overly formal,'' Nathan said as he attempted to wriggle his way out of Nejire's grasp.
"The title conveys my utmost respect! Now. If you'll excuse me! I'll leave you all to your day! Please do take care of yourselves!" Huang Feihu gave them a proper bow before heading off.
Nejire let out a sharp yelp as she squeezed Nathan's arm slightly too much, causing a charge to jump from his scales to her arm and prompting his release.
"Owowow!"
"Erm… You ok?" Yuyu asked.
"Sorry I probably should have warned you, there is a small charge running through my limbs to keep their shape so if they're too heavily compressed you'll get shocked." Nathan said.
"Oh you have an electricity- Keep their shape?" Yuyu asked.
"My arm and leg are prosthetics made out of my quirk. I also don't think we've formally met but I'm pretty sure I already know your name at least."
"Ah yeah me too, You're Relnor right? Relnor Nathan? I'm Haya Yuyu."
"A pleasure."
"YOOOOOU!? NEVER TOLD ME!? YOU WERE MISSING YOUR LIMBS!?" Nejire grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him.
"I- did- when- we- first- met- ?"
She stopped shaking him and tried to think back.
She vaguely recalled asking him about his scales but his answer was worded in such a way that she didn't put two and two together at the time.
It was only a brief reprieve as she began shaking him again, bouncing a thousand more questions about his limbs off of him.
"We should probably get moving if we want to beat the crowd… I do not want to face the crowd…" Amajiki said, having suddenly manifested near them.
For her part Yuyu just looked between Nejire and Nathan as he began answering Nejire's questions just as fast as she could ask them.
"Are they always like this?" Yuyu asked.
"Terrifying isn't it?"
They found themselves at a nice fried chicken place Yuyu had coupons for.
"I'm impressed, for a first year you hold yourself pretty confidently. Usually by the time their first semester is over people are starting to realize the gap between having a 'good' quirk and actually being a good hero," Yuyu said as they waited on their food.
Then again, she had seen his sports festival performance. He was already swinging in the big leagues.
For some reason Nathan had ordered a truly staggering amount of food. The only person that could have competed with him was Mirio and he'd sadly been too busy to join them.
"I mean I've lived in a hero organization my whole life just about so I guess I've always been comparing myself to pros."
"Ah… That must be humbling…" Amajiki muttered, his face planted on the table.
"Mh. Yeah. Terrifying too. But I'm used to it by now," He said with a nod. He still felt like he was dragging absolutely anyone near him down in a fight. He'd been alongside titans for so long that he automatically assumed death would arrive if he took a single hit. Training alongside all of them made him very strong very quickly, but it was difficult to adjust from that mindset to sparring with other students.
"Hey! You didn't tell me why you were grounded! What's up with that? You got kidnapped didn't you!?"
"Oh shit right that was you-" Yuyu said under her breath, "Are you ok!?"
"I'm fine honestly. I slept through a lot of it. And I only got caught because I made a bunch of stupid choices in the moment… They're not being like super overly strict about it, I mean I am here after all, but they're just trying to impress that I do not need to do some of the things I did."
That struck them as a little odd. He'd been abducted by villains and they were partially blaming him? The only way that made sense is if he took unnecessary risks, but sometimes desperate situations called for such things.
At least that was what they were stuck on before the absolute absurdity of 'I slept through most of my own kidnapping' was fully digested.
Amajiki let out a low whimper, "Wait- Are you used to that sort of thing?"
"Kind of? It's hard to explain but being in mortal peril isn't new to me."
"What kind of place is Chaldea!?" Yuyu protested loudly.
"It was… Well. It was a necessary evil for the work that goes on there. It wasn't always a country spanning organization that could handle any kind of crisis like it is now," Nathan said with a small chuckle.
"Hey hey! By the way! I want to visit Chaldea! I bet there's tons of cool heroes to see right? Right?"
"You may have the opportunity sooner than you think," Nathan said largely to himself prompting Nejire to latch onto him and start bombarding him with yet more questions.
"Ah, right… The dorms…" Amajiki muttered, "My space…"
"It won't be that bad, I've seen some of the floorplans, they're pretty swanky."
"I'm so excited about the dorms! I can't wait to be so close to my friends!" Nejire said while physically clinging to Nathan.
"I am a little worried about being away from Chaldea, I don't really remember a time before it but I think it's a step I need to take."
"Sounds like it…"
It was around then that their food arrived, allowing Nathan the ability to breathe as Nejire had to detach from him to eat.
The four of them enjoyed a nice meal together, although there was a bit of a mixup.
Yuyu was panting and guzzling water like mad.
"I told you that was going to be too much for you…" Amajiki said while quietly munching on his chicken.
"I told you! I'm not a quitter!"
"I'll swap with you if you don't want it! It smells really good!" Nejire offered.
"You can handle something like that? I can feel the peppers hitting my sinuses from here." Nathan said flatly. He had a feeling if Nejire couldn't handle it either he'd wind up taking it. His sense of taste was relatively dull so even something that spicy wouldn't bother him too much.
"Yup yup! Pass it here Yuyu!"
"Hrn… F-fine! I'll yield for now." She said, swapping plates with her best friend.
"How is yours Nathan?" Nejire asked as she began to dig in, completely unbothered by the heat of her dish.
"Hm. It's good. Interesting hints of triangle. Er- I mean- they use spices well?"
Everyone was staring at him due to his slip up but he managed to deflect with the fact that Japanese was not his first language and he'd simply mixed up the words in his brain.
They thankfully did not know him well enough to know that that was a lie. He doubted it'd work on 1-A anymore and he was sure it would stop working on them after enough time had passed on campus together.
As Nejire was busy enjoying her traded meal Yuyu decided to open up with a question of her own.
"So, you've got an electricity quirk too right? Seems like you're pretty good with it. What's your maximum voltage?"
"It usually takes a bit to charge up but I can build up to a billion volts or so."
"That's like verging on an actual lightning strike, you know that right?"
"Yeah! I actually have had some practice against lightning so I can usually deflect it if I try really hard."
Yuyu protested loudly about practicing against actual lightning while Nejire quickly finished her meal.
"Tamaki! Hey! Do we need to swing by anywhere special for your quirk today?"
"N-no, I'm fine for right now. There's no big operations coming…"
"Do you need to buy upgrades or something?" Nathan asked.
"Sort of! Tamaki can take on the properties of animals he eats with his quirk! It's super neat and he can do so much with it!"
"Aaaah- you don't need to go on-" Amajiki tried to interrupt her but the wheels in Nathan's head were already turning.
He really wanted to see if that quirk worked on phantasmal beasts. He was sure he could get some dragon meat or maybe a few scales ground up… That might be a powerful ace in the hole if he learned how to control it.
But he couldn't cause any more problems with spreading knowledge of magical creatures. They were already in hot water due to the whole summoning a False God thing.
"What do you think Nathan?"
"Hm?"
"We were gonna go get ice cream after this! Can you still join us?"
"Yeah sorry, got distracted," He said with a smile that felt more like a punch to the gut than anything. Amajiki physically winced at the amount of love pouring out of that boy.
Nejire patted him on the head and let loose her own contagious smile against that overwhelming one.
As they got up something occurred to him.
He hadn't flinched, or at least he hadn't needed to suppress a flinch for her benefit.
That was unusual enough for him to note but he decided not to think about the implications for too long lest he get left behind.
The world was full of many injustices. Countless terrible things happened in far away corners that no heroes could ever reach. Plague and illness still ravaged parts of the planet. But most pressing of all, the most unfair thing in the universe was that Nejire did not have three hands and therefore could not hold hands with everyone.
It was nearly enough to bring her to tears before Nathan suggested something that truly expanded her understanding of the rules of the world.
Well.
He didn't suggest anything per say.
"You can't really ride on someone's back without being able to hold on unfortunately."
It was an innocent statement but it had the unfortunate effect of giving Nejire the idea to just ride piggyback on his shoulders while holding Amajiki and Yuyu's hands.
Having the idea and executing on it were the same step in Nejire's mind, so Nathan truly had no warning as she crawled onto his shoulders.
Thankfully he seemed to be able to tolerate the weight of another person on him pretty easily.
Were his shoulders broader than she'd thought they were?
"Nejire… What are you doing?" Yuyu asked, her hand trapped in Nejire's vice grip.
"This way I can have everyone here!"
"You can just let someone walk off to the side…"
"But that's so unfair!"
"More or less unfair than making this poor kid carry you everywhere."
"It's fine really, this much isn't enough to bother me," Nathan said with a nod. He was a little too distracted with a strange rising heat flowing through his system to be paying too much attention to his surroundings.
He didn't seem to be shaking under the weight. He was being a little more careful with his footwork but that made sense given that one of his legs was a prosthetic.
"We look ridiculous though."
"Chaldea has giant evil clowns so my scale of ridiculous is distorted,"
"I no longer want to go to Chaldea," Amajiki said immediately, face hidden deep in his hoodie.
"That's fair."
"Honestly though, after everything you ate I'm surprised you can handle that extra stress without falling over," Yuyu said, genuinely impressed with Nathan's constitution.
"I am a growing boy and I need a lot of nutrients to balance out my scale production."
In truth he had noticed a bit of an uptake in the amount of food he could handle lately. Maybe it had something to do with the new friend that took up about 5% of his body mass.
The ridiculous entourage arrived at the small food truck selling a variety of strange flavors. Nejire wanted to try every last one of them but eventually had to settle on a cup with only three flavors in it, one picked by each of her friends.
Exceptionally reluctantly she had to actually get off of Nathan's shoulders to eat. She didn't know why it was so disappointing to be back on the ground but she chalked it up to enjoying being so close to her newest friend.
"You didn't have to pay for all of that Relnor-san…" Amajiki muttered, "But thank you."
"It's my treat. I actually haven't been out of Chaldea since the incident so this has been very refreshing to me!"
"Geez. Is it because you were injured or- Oh right you got grounded?" Nejire asked.
"A little of both, physically I'm alright but I'm struggling a little when it comes to combat at the moment. Every time I try to use my quirk to fight it overloads and I can't entirely figure out why."
"I mean… I hate to be blunt but you were probably traumatized, you know?" Yuyu said as delicately as she could manage.
He looked at her with a blank expression before shaking his head. He didn't think it had been too traumatizing, it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other fights he'd been through after all.
"Have you talked to anyone about it?"
"Not really? I mean after the two villains beat me in the forest I was unconscious until the actual raid happened so I basically fell over after that fight and woke up to All Might smashing through the wall."
He didn't want them dwelling on it so he was willing to lie a little, but he also couldn't exactly tell them he'd spent the entire time fighting to stop his sense of self from being completely consumed by a False God.
"You're too much like Mirio. Relentlessly determined, my god," Yuyu said with a sigh and a shrug.
Nejire just looked at Nathan with a scowl as he deflected the complement with a casual laugh. Something wasn't right about how normal he was being towards all of this. She could understand not wanting to think about it or talk about it openly with a group of people he didn't know as well… but-
"Hey! Hey! If you ever need to talk about stuff! Just ask! We'll all be on campus right! Even before then though!"
"Ah. Oh. Right. Yeah we will I guess. I'll be sure to take you up on it," Nathan said his eye darting to her before immediately jumping somewhere else.
"Ok! Promise!? Promise me!"
She held out her pinky before her, her intentions clear.
"... Ok yeah, I promise." Nathan nodded and reached out with his gloved left hand.
Their pinkies linked together and they shook on it Nejire beaming at him all the while.
He wasn't sure why but she looked positively radiant.
"Me too," Amajiki said quietly, "And Mirio…"
"Hm?"
"You can always ask your seniors for help is what he's getting at," Yuyu said with a smile.
Nathan's expression shifted as he looked between the three of them.
A confusing swirl of emotions was attacking him from the inside and he didn't know what the cause was or how to stop it.
He felt tears welling up in his eye.
"Ah- s-sorry I um. Thank you-" He quickly wiped his eye dry before shaking his head allowing a small discharge of electricity into his shoulder in order to try and focus his mind.
"Aaaawwwww! What are friends for!?" Nejire latched onto him yet again squeezing him tightly while being mindful not to shock herself again.
Unfortunately, after finishing desert the group had to part ways, Nathan returning to Chaldea after allowing Nejire and Yuyu to pet Huang Feihu's bull.
He was met with a barrage of Servants asking him how his date was causing him to retreat to the relative safety of his room for the day.
They couldn't tease him for too long however, preparations were underway to relocate the Shadow Border after all.
The dorms had been finished and cleaned up just three days before they were scheduled to move in.
It had been too late in development to build a special facility for the Shadow Border to stay permanently, but perhaps it was better for it to be a bit more out in the open. It took its place in the middle of a small communal area behind Heights Alliance.
The Chaldea branded vehicle moved onto campus one day before the students were set to arrive, making Nathan Relnor the first student to see the dorms after their completion.
It was a semi public affair, not even really gaining first page news, but Pro heroes everywhere knew it was a sign of commitment from UA.
As the rest of his class approached the dorms, Nathan came out from behind the building, suppressing a yawn. For some reason the night before he moved out of Chaldea every Servant he'd contracted with utterly lost their minds so he had gotten approximately no sleep.
"Huh… Nathan? Wait- That's right! You moved here with Chaldea didn't you!? I saw it on the news!" Midoriya called out as Nathan joined the group.
"Yup, glad to see all of you got permission. And that all of you are doing well," Nathan said with his usual smile.
Bakugo clicked his tongue and looked away.
It shouldn't surprise him that Nathan would be totally back to normal after all of that.
No. Nathan had never been anywhere but in his element that entire time.
The fact that it was all so effortless to him had been infuriating but…
Those flames came to the forefront of his mind.
That facade had clearly not come without sacrifice.
The rest of the class greeted him excitedly, sure they'd texted him but this was the first time actually seeing him since the incident.
It took them a good ten minutes but Aizawa waited patiently for that excitement to pass.
"Now then. I'm glad to see you all here. I'm here to give you a quick overview of your dorms, but before all that… The training camp was meant to earn you your provisional licenses and that's still our main goal here."
He paused as recollection passed through the class.
It was understandable that they'd forgotten given everything that happened.
"But this is important so listen. Todoroki. Kirishima. Midoriya. Yaoyorozu. Ida. On that night, you five headed out to rescue Bakugo and Nathan."
Aizawa's words were like a punch to the gut. Everyone was frozen in place by that simple declaration. Nathan stared at him, gauging exactly where this white hot fury was going.
"I think that all of you here understand the consequences of those actions. The issue is being swept under the rug for the moment but let me say this much. If not for All Might's retirement I would have expelled every single one of you except for Nathan, Bakugo, Jiro, and Hagakure."
The five of them had left, yes. But they had made no secret of their plans to the others and no one had done much to stop them from actually executing their plan.
Aizawa made it clear that they were all on thin ice.
And then he suddenly switched gears.
"One more thing before we go in. I'm sure some of you have heard that The Chaldea Security Organization is on campus now, as such their heroes will be occasionally patrolling campus. Be on your best behavior with them and you might learn a thing or two."
Nathan did absolutely everything he could to not laugh out loud at that statement.
He really did.
But a small snort still escaped him, earning Aizawa's ire.
He escaped verbal admonishment due to his complicated standing and familiarity with Chaldea.
"Now then. Look lively and let's get moving!" Aizawa said as he turned and proceeded towards the dorms.
The students lingered for a moment as Bakugo extracted some money from Kaminari in order to pay Kirishima back for the night vision goggles he'd bought during the rescue.
Doing so managed to successfully turn the mood of the class.
Their spirits lightened, they headed inside.
"One class to each building. Girls on the right boys on the left. The first floor is a common area. Your dining hall, baths and laundry rooms are all here too."
It was a spacious room for sure complete with a courtyard out back. In the distance the Shadow Border was visible with the symbol of Chaldea on its side.
And already seated on the couch, beaming a radiant smile at the class as they walked in.
"Oh my, hehehe, you're all here I see."
She was hard to describe with words.
A divine energy seemed to seep off of her as she gave the class a small wave.
Even Aizawa was briefly swept up in her presence.
"Oh hey Europa, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked, completely unphased by her overwhelming light.
"Well. I wanted to be here as you accommodated yourselves. Transitioning from one place to another always has its difficulties, but know that everything will be alright. You are all loved by the gods and I wish for you to know that love through me."
"R-Relnor-san!? Who- who is she?" Sato managed to get out.
"Ah, everyone, this is Europa, she's a… Well I wouldn't say she's a Chaldean hero per say- but-"
"Yes, I cannot fight on my own, I am simply a benefactor." She said with a nod.
"Right, well… Let's get moving upstairs so I can show you the rooms…" Aizawa muttered.
"Don't worry, if you wish to sit and speak with me I will be here all day. And please! Take some candy before you go!" She produced a large basket of sweets from behind the couch and placed them next to her.
The entire class partook in the offering before being led upstairs.
"One student per room, you've got AC, toilets, refrigerators, and closets, enjoy the luxuries."
There were even verandas on each room.
The luxury was enough to overwhelm a few of them.
As they made their way back downstairs Aizawa pointed to a large chart that showed the assigned rooms and told them their personal effects had already been moved to their rooms.
"Today you'll be focused on settling in, tomorrow is when we start classes back. If you have any more questions feel free to contact us, but for now you're dismissed."
"Yes sensei!" The class called out, everyone thoroughly excited to start working on their rooms.
"By the way! Nathan! I believe you have a few helpers for your room waiting for you!" Europa said in a singsong voice as the class began to disperse into the dorms.
"Oh ok, thanks for letting me know!"
He and Midoriya headed upstairs together as their rooms were right next to each other.
"I can't believe I met another Chaldean so casually! I guess that'll be something we have to get used to huh?"
"It'll be fine, they won't be as unruly as they were during the nerf war, I promise."
Even then they weren't that bad, but Midoriya was glad that that level of intensity wouldn't be the norm.
They parted ways, entering their respective rooms.
Inside Nathan found his eager helpers.
"Ah! Jing Ke! Siegfried! You didn't have to-"
"We wanted to," Jing Ke quickly cut in, "I had the fortune to be there at the start of your journey so I wanted to see you off on this next phase!"
"Yes. There was a lot of debate but… It was agreed that those of us who have walked with you since the beginning would be the ones to see you off."
Nathan felt emotions welling up inside him as they both embraced him one after the other.
"I just want you to know Master. I am proud to have shared this journey with you. If there is anything you need I will always be waiting in the wings." Siegfried said confidently.
"Y-Yeah- Yeah lets- Let's get started then-" Nathan said clearly on the verge of breaking down.
With all the extra help Nathan was one of the first people done sorting his room out.
"Oh. You're already done?" Nathan asked as he waved Jing Ke and Siegfried off.
"Ah. Yes. I live pretty simply so I didn't really need to set much up," Ojiro said casually from the couch.
"I've never really had that much either so setting up was nothing complicated," Shoji nodded along with him.
"I guess you had some Chaldeans help you out? I'm sorry, I probably should have checked on you, considering."
Ojiro's gaze fell to Nathan's arm.
"It's fine, you have your own stuff to worry about," Nathan took a seat next to Europa, prompting her to pat his head.
"You have wonderful friends Nathan. They were just telling me how they're glad you managed to get through that horrid abduction," Europa said as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"How are you by the way? I haven't really seen you since then," Ojiro started.
"All good on my end. Sorry for making you all worry about me,"
Europa's grip on his head tightened.
"Now, Nathan, there's no need to deflect your friends' concerns, don't you think it would be quite rude to be dismissed off hand? I know you don't want to worry them but this is only going to breed a different kind of worry,"
"Ack- Y-yeah- You're right- I'm sorry-"
It was simply astounding to them how casually they interacted.
Nathan had a strange air around him. Approaching him was rather difficult, he held himself in such a contradictory manner that he almost came across as unsettling. However, if he approached someone else his presence was overly friendly and casual if a little on the overwhelming side.
He breezed through groups without giving anything away, it was like he was an open book but if you tried to read him he snapped shut instantly.
"A-Anyway- Um- Well- I do have to admit that my quirk has taken some damage. I seem to be reacting poorly mentally… Ever since then every time I try to use my quirk it overloads."
Shoji's eyes widened.
There was a small dent in the armor that Nathan Relnor clad himself in.
Everything terrible that happened always seemed to roll right off of him.
He was so good at deflecting, maybe he was actually hiding far more damage than he let on.
"Well. We're here to help you through it alright?" Ojiro said with a smile.
Shoji nodded, "Right, you're always ready to jump to insane lengths to help people so I'd be a poor hero to not extend the same to you."
So many doors were opening up to him now.
Nathan honestly did not know what to do.
Something was straining to explode out of him and it was taking more and more effort to repress it.
"Thanks. I mean it…"
"Any time Relnor-san"
The boys slowly filtered down to the common room, Europa rewarding each and every one of them for their hard work with a pat on the head and another piece of candy.
Despite the fact that the couches were filling up no one would sit on the other side of Europa.
They simply could not approach that perfect divine presence.
At least-
Kirishima, barely paying attention, saw an open spot and took it, collapsing next to Europa.
"Man I'm wiped out."
"You've worked very hard today!" Europa said cheerfully, patting his head and causing him to lean against her as he lost the will to sit upright.
Sero and Kaminari looked at the scene, feeling that something deeply unfair was happening right in front of them.
But another blinding smile from Europa was enough to soothe their hearts.
It really was no wonder Nathan smiled the way he did if he was surrounded by people like her all the time.
"You guys all finished with your rooms?" Mina asked as she and the girls came down as a group.
"Oh! Yeah! We're just relaxing right now!"
"Looks like," Jiro said, her eyes falling on Nathan and Kirishima, the both of them resting against Europa.
Nathan at least made sense, but Kirishima?
"So we were talking and, hear me out, what if we all had a peek into each other's rooms?"
The idea didn't even have time to sit with anyone before they barged into Midoriya's room.
As expected it was adorned with All Might merch. He'd desperately tried to stop them from seeing it but he had been completely outvoted.
"I- I just look up to him… So embarrassing…" He muttered to himself.
"Oh. You kept it." Nathan said simply.
"Hm?"
Midoriya followed Nathan's gaze to the Chaldea branded nerf gun in the corner of his room.
"Ah! Yeah! I did!"
"Hrm… With all of us here now… I'll have to draw up some plans…" Nathan brought his hand to his chin as he began having evil thoughts of a catastrophic nerf war.
The boys were still somewhat nervous as everyone filed out of Midoriya's room.
They turned to Nathan's before someone else caught their attention.
"This is ridiculous…"
Tokoyami stood leaning against the door to his room.
He did not survive drawing aggro so blatantly, Mina and Hagakure shoving him out of the way and barging into his room.
"WOAH THIS IS SO DARK!"
It was like halloween had exploded in his room, only with less orange.
Nathan had a feeling that if Tokoyami set up a high end computer he'd never be able to get Osakabehime out of this room.
And then he noticed a poster in the back.
"Oh Die Dice? I tried to get a few Chaldeans into that game for a little bit!"
"Isn't that game like, kind of old?" Mina asked.
"Yeah, but it's fun," Nathan answered.
"Y-Chaldeans know how to play…?"
It was almost enough to snap Tokoyami out of his anger.
"Some of them, it didn't spread too far because a couple of them started treating it like a contact sport."
Jiro let out a sharp snort, the image of Chaldea as an infallible hero organization suddenly starting to crack in her mind.
Midoriya strayed near one of Tokoyami's swords, "Are these real?"
"Ah they-"
"Those are probably replicas, but caution is warranted Izuku," Nathan said.
Tokoyami reached the boiling point and screamed for everyone to get out of his room before they turned it upside.
On their way out they stopped by Aoyama's room. It was a level of sparkly and gaudy that Nathan had only ever seen on occasion form his most ridiculous Servants.
That is to say, it's exactly what everyone expected of him.
"Ok! Who else is left on this floor?" Uraraka asked.
"That'd be me I guess," Nathan said, having no real problem with showing people his room.
He just hoped they wouldn't enter it without him because he wasn't sure how Mini Cu or his Viy doll would react.
There was a bit of trepidation as the class approached his room.
Nathan was something of a mystery amongst his peers, he was aloof, exceedingly capable, and some might go as far to say that he was a complete lunatic.
But as much as they'd spoken to him over the last semester it was hard to say that anyone knew much about him beyond his capabilities. It was less that he was difficult to get along with and more that he was excessively defensive when it came to himself.
To be allowed into his room with so little effort felt off.
He opened his door and freely invited everyone in.
His bed was adorned with a few stuffed animals, thankfully the sentient ones did not decide to get up and start moving for their new audience.
The bed itself was styled after the one he was used to back in Chaldea. Opposite it he had a table with a few card game mats set up over it with a desk and bookshelf next to it.
Most strikingly were the paintings that adorned his walls.
They were the images of Lostbelts that would not fade as well as a copy of the Mona Lisa.
Overall it had a very utilitarian air to it while still clearly being a room that belonged to a teenage boy. It felt cluttered but it was a very organized kind of clutter.
The design clashed enough to give it a mildly unsettling air but it was something that would be easy to get used to.
In a way it was 100% the room Nathan would have.
"Oh? Where did you get some of these paintings?" Yaoyorozu asked. The Mona Lisa replica was especially impressive but Nathan figured it was because Da Vinci herself had painted it for him.
"I had them commissioned for me. They're to help me remember things I've experienced…"
He was still smiling but everyone could tell that the emotions behind it were rapidly depleting.
"Everything else in here is various things heroes have given me or stuff that helps me sleep at night."
Koda tugged on Nathan's sleeve, quickly signing him a question.
"Ah yeah. The stuffed animals are Chaldea originals, we have a few heroes who are pretty handy! I could introduce you if you want!"
"Y-yes please!" Koda squeaked out.
"Woah! You play card games? Which ones?" Kaminari asked.
"Oh! These are Pokemon cards aren't they? I used to collect them as a kid!" Mina said, gravitating towards the table.
The air shifted uncomfortably in the room.
Everything went ice cold for a moment.
Kaminari and Mina felt their hair stand on end.
Every instinct they had was telling them that they were in danger of losing their lives.
"Would you like me to teach you how to play?" Nathan asked.
When they glanced his way he looked less like their fellow student and more like a predator who just had two helpless fools stumble into his den.
"S-Sure?" Kaminari managed to get out.
The oppressive atmosphere lightened instantly.
"Cool! I'll walk you both through it some time!" Nathan said excitedly.
With that they left his room, heading to the next floor.
Ojiro's room was next and upon seeing it Nathan suddenly understood how he got finished unpacking so quickly. It was simple but homely.
"It looks like a good place to unwind!" Nathan said, earning a small smile from Ojiro.
They ventured forth, marveling at the excessive amount of books and spare glasses Iida had, observing the cluttered mix that Kaminari called his room.
Koda had a bunny in his room which made it one of Nathan's favorites.
It was around then that the argument was made that the girls should also be showing off their rooms.
"We're baring our souls here! Isn't it unfair that we're the only ones being judged in this competition!?" Sero asked passionately.
The fact that it had morphed into a competition changed things.
The activity to bring them closer together became a fight to the death.
"Great idea!" Mina said, alarming the rest of the girls.
Once the ground rules were set they moved on to the next room.
"This is the epitome of Manliness!" Kirishima exclaimed as he showed off his room.
It certainly was something, Nathan was sure Leonidas would love it in there.
Shoji was up next and his room… Was almost completely empty.
"You have a really simple style," Todoroki muttered.
"You certainly weren't kidding when you said you didn't care about owning stuff," Nathan said with a small chuckle.
Sero's room was actually fairly well put together with a unique and unified aesthetic to it.
"I never guessed you'd be so stylish, Sero," Jiro said with a smirk.
"Hehehe! Just call me Sero Surprise!"
Todoroki was next, a now familiar trepidation and curiosity washed over the class. If there was anyone who could rival Nathan in terms of aloofness it was him.
And so.
"Let's get this over with, I'm tired." Todoroki said, opening his door.
It was a traditional Japanese room. Nathan had stayed in plenty of them during his travels with Chaldea. What was surprising was that Todoroki had remodeled the entire room in a single day with his only explanation for how he accomplished this being that he worked hard.
Sato's room welcomed everyone with a sweet aroma. It was simple but he had a lot of cookware for baking lining his wall.
He'd apparently been in the middle of baking a cake for everyone, letting the class try it as they lingered in his room.
"This is really good Sato," Nathan said with a smile, "I can taste how excited you are to be here!"
His phrasing was a little odd but that was just how Nathan was sometimes.
"There are a lot of heroes in Chaldea that are really good at cooking! I'm sure they'd love to help you out if you ever wanted to learn something new! I'm pretty alright working with chocolate too!"
He'd made a few hundred valentines chocolates every year for basically his entire life so he knew his way around chocolate.
"Oh!? That's actually kind of unexpected coming out of you! I- I only really bake to help train my quirk but if you've got any pointers I'd love to hear them!"
With all of the boys sans the sleeping Bakugo covered it was time to move to touring the girls rooms.
Jiro was the first one on the chopping block.
Her room was filled to the breaking point with musical instruments. She was clearly embarrassed but Nathan thought it was a fine collection. He'd have to introduce her to some of the more musically inclined Servants later.
Hagakure was next, her room filled with plushies and toys while being relatively typical. Somehow a few of the guys seemed more embarrassed seeing her room than she did showing it off.
Ashido and Uraraka followed, their rooms each having their own unique flair to them. Upon seeing the star chart on Uraraka's wall Nathan felt a burning need to have Voyager talk to her about space.
Oddly he also found that he easily recognized every constellation on the poster when he was sure he'd only learned a few of them…
"Um. I think Tsuyu wasn't feeling well so we should skip her room," Uraraka said.
Nathan nodded along as everyone agreed not to bother her, leading to the final room of the night.
Yaoyorozu's room was a bit too cramped, apparently she hadn't been prepared for such a small room which kind of made sense given her family's status.
With the rooms fully screened they returned to the common room and explained what they'd been doing to Europa. She simply beamed at everyone and collected their votes in a small box seeing as she was the only impartial party present.
"I have counted all of the votes and I'm happy to say that young Rikido Sato has won with a total of six votes. How lovely! Would you like a prize?" She said with a radiant smile.
"Haaah!?"
"That cake was divine…"
"Oh? Divine treats? I do hope you saved some for me!" Europa said with a smile.
"Er- Actually! I did!" Sato said, presenting her the last piece of cake he'd brought down for himself.
"How sweet of you! You'll receive my special blessing on this night as well!" She said before trying the pastry, "Mh. Yes. Quite worthy of being presented to Almighty Zeus. Hold your head high!"
It was so much praise that Kaminari and Sero began tormenting the winner of the impromptu contest.
With the results calculated everyone began to disperse. At least until Uraraka pulled aside the group that had gone to rescue Nathan and Bakugo, bringing them outside.
Nathan wanted to snoop but he was sure it was personal considering he eventually saw Tsuyu exit with Uraraka.
He figured he should probably turn in too, heading up the stairs to his room.
He hadn't even made it up the first step before someone called from above.
"Dragon bastard."
He looked up and saw Bakugo.
"We need to talk."
God this was so fun to write. I'm looking forward to just shenanigans in the future. If anyone has any Servant / UA interactions they want to see please let me know because I'm compiling ideas for a canon side story that is just going to be slice of life nonsense.
I really hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. I don't think the next one is going to be out as soon as this one. At this point I emerge from the darkness with two chapters and then disappear for months it seems. I hope that won't happen this time though!
Fun fact, Jing Ke was the first servant I ever summoned back in FGO JP on launch day... Ah. Those were times... Siegfried was my first 4 star too on that account so thought it'd be cute if they were there with Nathan.