Chapter 14: Fuel the flames (of self actualization)(to find your calling)
This one is a bit of a longer one. I probably should have added the shopping mall bit to the last chapter but I just wanted to get it out after being stuck on it for so so long! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy! It was a lot of fun to work on this chapter and I hope you look forward to the next few!
Nezu glanced at the proximity alarm. It went off every morning these days, which made sense with the increasing villain activity lately.
But the problem was that it usually wasn't a villain.
A bright pink quadrupedal tank armed with enough munitions to take on a country and probably win approached with Nathan Relnor riding on top of it, casually kicking his feet off the side as if there was nothing extremely odd about his mode of transport.
He would need to ask Sherlock to not let that boy be ferried to school by vehicles with quite that many guns on them in the future.
As he began the process of overriding the alarms, he started to wonder how Chaldea functioned as an organization because each individual member never seemed to add up to a cohesive unit. Their abilities were extremely varied and despite clear experience fighting side by side with each other, sometimes pro heroes reported that some Chaldeans seemed to have open distaste for one another.
But despite this they remained fiercely loyal to Chaldea.
There had never been an incident report filed without at least one mention of making this world a better place for the Master of Chaldea.
A pink fox woman in a skin tight suit that left far too little to the imagination popped out of the tank, giving Nathan a few words before he disembarked. He met the confused gazes of his classmates with that smile that absolutely overflowed with love before they proceeded to class together.
The tank lingered for a moment, the woman waiting until Nathan disappeared inside the building before she turned, looking directly at the security camera he was using to monitor the situation.
A twisted smirk crossed her face as she licked her lips.
Nezu could not help but interpret that as a direct threat.
'If something harms him, this is what I have to retaliate with.'
"Received loud and clear." Nezu said as he sipped his tea, turning away from the monitor.
Mina, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sato stood dejected at the head of the class as everyone filed in.
Kaminari and Mina were convinced that they'd failed because Sero literally dragged them through their practical exam.
Kirishima and Sato despaired because they'd failed outright.
As per Aizawa's earlier announcements this meant that they would not be attending the summer training camp, instead getting harder, less exciting, summer school.
"I-I mean- what if it's another logical ruse? Aizawa sensei has done that before!" Midoriya said, desperate to cheer them up. But the general consensus was that there was no way Aizawa would do that again.
"What do you think Nathan, you've usually got a pretty good read on people," Sero asked.
"Mh. Hard to say. I have a feeling he decides what is and isn't a logical ruse once he's got results in front of him." He said with a shrug.
"Ah so there's no hope is there?" Mina said despondently.
"There's always hope, you just have to have the strength to cling to it," Nathan chuckled.
"By the way, Nathan! Are you ok?" Midoriya asked.
"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine now. Just needed some rest is all!" Nathan said with a blinding smile.
"Oh? What happened?" Yaoyorozu spoke up.
"I was a little shaken up after my test but I think I still did ok."
"You were still out of it even on the way out of UA, it was a little alarming," Jiro added.
"I'm not good with burning buildings. Or fire in general really."
Todoroki just nodded to him in silent understanding as was his way.
The outpouring of pity for the failures became too much for Kaminari to handle, his loud protests catching Nathan's attention just before Aizawa burst into the room.
"That's the bell, get into your seats." He said before taking to the front of the classroom, "So. About your final exams. We had some failures unfortunately. As such…"
Nathan could feel the despair wafting off of those four, the air growing stagnate around them to match.
"You're all going to summer training camp!"
And then they started screaming and crying.
Aizawa explained that everyone passed the written portion before going onto the true nature of the exam. Each of their teachers had given them scenarios suited to their strengths but designed them so that they had to come up with proper strategies to emerge victorious.
"We wanted to push you. This is a training camp, obviously if you failed you clearly need this more than anyone. This was simply another logical ruse."
For some reason Chiron's lessons sprang to mind as the entire class erupted in wild protest to Aizawa managing to pull one over on them again.
Iida of course immediately brought up the question of how they were supposed to trust him now that they knew logical ruses were always on the table. Aizawa countered with the fact that failure simply had different consequences than he'd implied, consequences far worse than a simple summer school.
With the air of excitement thoroughly dashed, Aizawa began passing out the camp manuals. They were detailed guides on what supplies to bring and the logistics behind their stay. It was the kind of required reading that made Nathan wish someone would crash through a nearby window to give him something interesting to devote his attention to.
Classes proceeded as normal for the rest of the day, a lot of review of their respective performances as well as the usual lessons. When class let out the students lingered, going over their packets to see what all the training camp required.
"This packing list is huge!" Midoriya muttered, leafing through the required items.
"Is it? This seems pretty standard, maybe even a little sparse for a camp…" Nathan tilted his head to the side as he gave the list a once over, "We're clearly going to be indoors since there aren't too many survival essentials on here."
"Oh? I take it you've been camping before Relnor-san?"
"Loads of times. I think I've already got everything on this list honestly."
"Damn, you're set huh? I don't even have a swimsuit that fits, I need to buy loads of stuff…" Kaminari muttered.
"I know! I know! Since we're off tomorrow and tests are over, why don't we go shopping together!" Hagakure suggested excitedly.
A wave of approval swept through the class with a few standouts already having plans.
"I know you said you have everything but do you want to come anyway?" Hagakure asked.
"I think I'll pass. I know I have this stuff but figuring out where it all is is going to take me a while even with help."
"Ah! That's a shame! You're always welcome to come! We'll keep the times posted in the group chat!"
"Thanks, I'll try to swing by if I have the time," Nathan said with a smile.
"A summer training camp? Well… Here's hoping it won't go as badly as our last summer camp went…" Mashu said from over the phone placed on Nathan's table.
His room was even more cluttered than normal, Ashiya Douman lounging on his bed while he and Kato Danzo dug through his closet looking for the various camping supplies he needed.
"I don't think there will be any outer gods at this camp considering it's just UA, no reason for things to go quite as badly as that whole debacle." Nathan said, pulling a sleeping bag from under a few haphazardly placed mystic codes.
"Even with our resident servant summoner out there you're not worried? You do understand you're going this alone, right? Not even that clingy Avenger or that doting grandfather will be hiding in your shadow this time," Douman said halfheartedly as he munched on some grapes.
"I'll be fine by myself. Honestly I'm more worried about what you guys are going to do without me. Try not to fuck everything up while I'm gone," Nathan said, offering him a wry smile.
"Mmmmm~ Master you're so cruel to suggest such a thing. I'll be good! I'll be gooood!"
"After everything we went through it will be a nice relaxing vacation for you!" Mashu said happily.
"A relaxing summer camp? No. You're supposed to be learning the ways of a modern hero are you not, mongrel?" Gilgamesh said as he and Enkidu barged into the room.
"Oh! Hello Ou-sama!" Mashu got in excitedly.
"I will allow you to speak to me out of turn this once, your time away from this facility has likely dulled your sense of etiquette. However!"
With a golden flash Gilgamesh produced an extremely ornate key.
"What are you-"
"This is training is it not? You cannot learn the ways of this world if you have access to my treasures. I will be locking you out of the Gate of Baylon until you return from this excursion."
Nathan frowned. He only ever used the things that he himself put into the treasury, but to have Gilgamesh lock him out of it entirely for the trip was rather frustrating. He was sure he wouldn't need any of the destructive instruments he'd stashed away in it but not having access to it at all gave him a looming sense of anxiety. What would happen if he really did need it?
"Then you will have to sort it out as Nathan Relnor, pro hero in training, rather than Nathan Relnor, Master of Chaldea." Gilgamesh responded sharply to his train of thought.
"Ugh. Ffffine."
"Oh, more bad news for you Master. Sherlock told me to let you know that mystic codes are not to be taken with you. Top secret stuff can't leave your supervision I think is how he justified it." Enkidu spoke up, looking away from the list of supplies he'd picked up.
"Can't leave my- Oh right, I guess I wouldn't be sleeping in them… And we'd be out in the woods away from our stuff sometimes…"
That made sense but it was another security blanket that was being taken away from him. Plus he was going to be in a forest environment wasn't he?
"This will be a unique situation for you Master. Both the environment and the lack of Chaldean support will provide you with severe disadvantages, but you are not someone who will fall even under those conditions. If you were, you would not have made it to today." Danzou said, tossing his spare undershirt onto the pile of things he was bringing.
"That's right that's right. And if things do go out of hand there's always those," Enkidu said, pointing to his left hand.
Nathan glanced at his command seals. He hadn't really needed one in ages but they were always available to him.
But the cost of using them… At this point it was so high that he couldn't handle the thought of it.
"Oh! What fun! Yes of course! What's a memory in the face of being killed! Losing another precious piece of yourself just to take another step is truly the essence of your position isn't it? If you have to rely on such things doesn't that defeat the purpose of distancing yourself from your role as our Master?" Douman laughed uproariously before receiving glares from everyone else in the room.
"Pay that raving lunatic no mind, do what you must with what you have to survive. I've no doubt this will be a trivial challenge but it is one you must face on your own." Gilgamesh said before turning to leave.
Nathan's phone interrupted his departure, prompting Danzo to take a look at it.
"You've another call waiting Master, from.. Uraraka Ochaco?"
"Hm? Oh I did give her my number before our internships didn't I? Go ahead and put her through. I'll talk to you later Mashu!"
"Have a safe trip Nathan, we're here if you need us!"
With a click the call switched over.
"Hey Uraraka-san, what's up?"
"Deku got attacked by a villain while we were at the mall!-"
Everyone froze in place as she desperately told of Shigaraki accosting his friend.
"Gilgamesh," Nathan said sharply, throwing on one of his battle-ready mystic codes before picking up his phone.
"Hoh? You mean to use my Vimana?"
"If you'll allow it, your majesty."
"Very well. Let us be off,"
"Enkidu, you're with us, Danzou let Sherlock know what we're up to, Douman… Just do whatever it is you do around here,"
"Yes of course! Have a safe journey!"
"I'm on my way Uraraka shouldn't be but a few minutes-"
"W-Wait! Hold on! Deku-kun is already with the police- They're taking his statements now, I just thought- I saw that you weren't checking the group chat and decided to call you to let you know."
Nathan looked at his phone and let his tension subside somewhat, "We'll head over to the police station then… I'm not sure what it will accomplish but I'd like to be there…"
"Oh- Alright- I guess keep us posted then! We're giving our own statements individually right now but since Deku-kun had the most direct contact… Hey. Do you know who All for One is?"
He took a moment to collect himself. He wasn't sure exactly how Uraraka had learned that name, but if she was the one who found Deku and Shigaraki she probably heard Midoriya talking and was looking for her own answers.
"I do but it is not my place to speak on such matters. You'll have to ask Izuku on your own time, I'm afraid."
"A-Ah… I see. He's involved in something dangerous isn't he?"
"We all are, we're trying to become pro heroes Uraraka-san."
"But- But already? We're just students? How is he so… How is he already…"
"The unfortunate state of this world is that people are forced into horrible situations no matter how young they are! It's a topic Nathan is quite familiar with, aren't you? Hmmmm?" Ashiya Douman said before popping another grape into his mouth.
"Douman shut up I'm on the phone."
"Oh- I'm sorry are you-"
"I was packing so I put you on speaker, I'm sorry, the gravity of what you were calling about distracted me a bit so I forgot to mention it," Nathan said, turning off speaker talk and putting his phone to his ear.
Enkidu took it upon himself to transform his arm into a mallet and hit Douman with it, earning the approval of the room.
She remained quiet on the other end of the line long enough for Nathan to worry that he'd accidentally hung up on her.
"You and him really are alike aren't you? Is he going to be ok?"
"We'll be there to support him won't we? It's not like heroes to abandon friends in times of need is it?"
"Y-Yeah! Yeah! Of course! I'll do whatever I can! Th-Thank you!"
Nathan just smiled, "Anyway I'm going to head over to the police station."
"Right. Thank you for going when I can't!"
"No problem, I'll keep the group chat posted."
They pulled up to the police station later that evening, it had taken a little bit to figure out which one Midoriya was at, and even more time to check and see if it was even ok for him to be there.
Nathan hopped off Saber Alter's motorcycle, giving her a small wave before she sped off.
There was a familiar figure there that he wanted to have a private conversation with.
All Might stood before the police station, apparently surprised at Nathan's arrival.
"What are you doing here Young Relnor?"
"My friend just got attacked by a villain. I wanted to make sure he was ok," He answered simply.
"I see- There's nothing to worry about- He's in good hands in there-"
"That's not really the kind of ok I mean. I remember the first time I was attacked and only managed to work my way out of it by talking. It sticks with you so I wanted to… Confirm some things I guess…"
All Might regarded him with fascination.
"I am heartened by your concern for your friend… But-"
"He told me. About All for One and the nature of your situation. He told me so he could have full support from a friend. I'm here to fulfill that role."
All Might was briefly knocked off guard by the flat admission that his secret had gotten out yet again, but if there was someone who could be trusted to keep a secret it was the boy he knew next to nothing about.
They stood in silence for a moment before All Might fielded a question.
"Have you responded in kind? Have you trusted him with something so he can lend you a shoulder as well?"
Nathan flinched at the question, as if it had tapped a raw wound on his side.
His expression twisted, shifting between emotions before he just shook his head.
All Might did not like that word was getting out, but he could feel the flames inside him fading. If he could not support Midoriya…
"I think… You should… As the symbol of peace. I strive to light the way for everyone.. But-"
"Standing atop a hill providing a guiding light is a lonely job huh?"
Nathan knew. He knew that blazing a trail ahead to a better future meant that more often than not you were alone facing insurmountable odds. He had seen so many people that had been crushed by that weight, that had been led astray to the point of nearly destroying everything.
All Might stood before him with the entire world on his back.
He would be lying if he said he didn't know what that was like.
"You and I… Have a lot in common. I think," Nathan said simply.
All Might put a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it.
"For that. I am sorry."
They heard the door to the police station open, their attention snapping to Midoriya and the two detectives that guided him out.
"Ah, You- Erm." One detective started.
"It's alright, he knows," All Might nodded as Midoriya approached him.
"W-What are you two doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure you were safe Izuku," Nathan said with a nod
"And I… wanted to apologize." All Might put a large hand on Midoriya's head and ruffled his hair, "I am so sorry I wasn't there to save you…"
"No- I-" Midoriya paused, a question hanging in his throat. He looked to Nathan who gave him an affirming nod. "All Might. Was there a time where you couldn't save everyone?"
It hadn't been intended for him, but the question tore through Nathan like a bullet.
A harsh static filled his mind as countless ghosts flickered at the corners of his vision.
But.
But All Might answered it so easily.
"Sure. Plenty of times. Right now, somewhere out there in the world… Someone is hurting or even dying. It's terrible but I am only human. I can only save people in my reach. That is why I must stand tall and smile. So I can show everyone, civilians, heroes, and villains, a way to a brighter future."
Nathan had never reached that high.
Even when facing down Goetia in the Temple of Time with all of human history on the line, he had only ever fought for his own survival.
Once again, he was forced to ask himself if he was worthy of wearing the title of hero.
He thought of their previous conversation before the end of term exams. All Might had stumbled and failed to save people, but he would never ever give up on them, even if the only way forward was to stain his hands with blood he would simply find another way.
"Maybe we have less in common than I thought," Nathan said to himself quietly.
All Might gave him a concerned glance but Tsukauchi had spoken to Midoriya at the same time, causing Midoriya to miss the quiet murmur.
"What did you fight for my boy?" All Might asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" He turned to face All Might.
The Symbol of Peace was not ready for the expression that crossed that boy's face as he answered honestly for perhaps the first time he'd ever personally experienced.
It was a smile that carried thousands of goodbyes. A smile that had broken through countless trials and hardships. A smile that conveyed love beyond love. A love that reached outside of human experience to touch something unknown.
"I wanted to live."
All Might remembered the conversation they'd had the other day.
Nathan told him that he'd stopped his self-destructive behavior because he'd overcome the trials before him. That answer had thrown him at the time, but he realized now he'd missed the important context of those words. If Nathan only ever fought to survive then he had stopped because his life was no longer in danger.
Midoriya Inko arrived as he mulled over this, prompting Nathan to leave All Might's side to speak with her. He stood there, watching that boy speak with his friend's crying mother as she smothered her child with love.
They were hurried along. Midoriya needed his rest no doubt. Nathan offered to spend the night to provide what comfort he could and was gladly welcomed into Inko's hug.
As they left, Tsukauchi walked up to All Might.
"That kid is the one from Chaldea isn't he? Is that how he knows?"
"No. I believe Young Midoriya told him because they are close friends."
Tsukauchi watched as the three left, both of them losing an arm to Inko's tight embrace.
All Might's mind was still racing as he stared intently at the back of that boy's head.
"Do you really want to be a hero, Young Relnor? Or is a life where you are in danger at every turn the only one you know anymore?"
"What?"
"Nevermind me. I take it you have something you wish to discuss?"
"You really don't need to stay the night Nathan. Won't Chaldea be worried if you don't come back home?" Midoriya asked as he cleaned the dishes from dinner.
"It's fine, they knew what my plan was when I got them to drop me off at the station." Nathan replied easily. He was typing a message on his phone with some difficulty, having put it on the table to let his shaky left hand work more easily.
"It is very sweet of you to stay here. I really do appreciate it Nathan," Inko said as she reentered the main room, "I've got your bed roll set up in Izuku's room, is that ok for you?"
"Yeah that's fine. I can sleep on anything. And it's no trouble, I'm easing my own mind just as much as providing support after all," He responded with a smile filled to the brim with love.
"You're always welcome here if you need some time away! I'm sure Izuku would love to have you over more often! He talks about you so much you know!"
"M-Mom!"
Nathan just let out a small chuckle, finishing his message before pocketing his phone.
His stare shifted under the table, looking down as if he'd dropped something. His shadow distorted slightly but returned to normal before anyone else could see it.
"I might take you up on that offer if things continue the way they are. It'll give me the opportunity to make sure you get home safe at least." He said upon returning his attention to the Midoriyas
"Things aren't that bad Nathan…"
"If they ever reach that point though. I'm here to lend a hand. Heroes have to stick together don't they?"
"Well. As a mother I appreciate the sentiment but I don't know if my heart could take it if we had to accept that offer," Inko said with a hesitant chuckle.
Nathan simply nodded. Hers was a perspective he never really considered. He had difficulty even nailing down what a proper parent child relationship even looked like anymore. All of the people he'd considered his family were either gone, out of range, or Servants.
"Right. I'm sorry. In my experience things can go from fine to terrible in the blink of an eye so I try to be on top of things."
Inko just walked over and patted Nathan on the head.
"Now then. You boys should start getting to bed! It's very late!"
As if on queue, Midoriya let out a loud yawn indicating his general level of fatigue.
"Right. Let's get settled in. Thanks again for accommodating me." Nathan said as he stood, displaying no evidence that he was tired at all.
"It's really no trouble Nathan!"
Midoriya opened his eyes to an unusual scene.
It was entirely unfamiliar. But the blurred edges of his vision told him that he was likely dreaming.
But somehow it did not feel like a normal dream. He was a bit too aware of his place in it. Perhaps this was one of those lucid dreams he'd heard about?
Midoriya Izuku stood in the corner of a log cabin he didn't recognize.
There was a scene playing out in front of him but even that did not feel like it was part of a normal dream. It was far too vivid. Too lived. Too real.
Was this a memory?
Nathan Relnor sat at a rustic dinner table with a smile on his face, chatting with a beautiful woman with icy blue hair and a tall rugged man.
Immediately to Nathan's left was a small blonde girl in a green dress.
She was the focus.
Everything blurred slightly the further away from her it was.
It was like he was watching a painting come alive in front of him.
He almost felt like he was intruding on something that shouldn't be seen by anyone.
He watched as that girl's hand slid over Nathan's, their fingers entwining.
A blush raced across both of their faces as the two adults began to make jokes at their expense.
Young love.
First sweetheart.
"Well, zrhtpMASTERthqpoe, you should probably get to bed! We'll have an early morning tomorrow no doubt."
"Yeah. Mashu has already turned in. We should follow suit I guess."
"I'll keep watch," The icy woman said with a soft smile.
"Thanks Brynhildr," That younger Nathan responded with his own smile.
Midoriya found it off but not in a way that alarmed him.
It was warm.
It was inviting and comforting.
Just seeing it eased his mind somewhat.
When had he forgotten how to smile like this?
"Do you have a mat or something rolled out for me?"
"Oh. No! Why?" The blonde girl tilted her head to the side as she spoke.
"Ah, well let's go ahead and set one up then!"
"Why would you need something like that? You can sleep on my bed!"
"Gerda, I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor. We're your guests!"
"Why would I sleep on the floor? It's big enough for both of us."
The burly man let out a low whistle.
"Napoleon stop it," Nathan said, seemingly out of pure reflex, "Gerda, it's fine, I'll sleep on the floor. You should only share your bed with someone you trust and care about."
"I do!"
"Huh?"
"I trust you! You saved me! Even though I thought you were an Envoy for so long… Well… I'm glad I realized you're just another person… That way I can-"
Gerda cut herself off and looked away.
But she was still holding Nathan's hand.
Midoriya could see her grip tighten somewhat as she tried to collect herself.
"Um! But! I'm not- Well- I just-" She stammered before finally taking a deep breath and meeting Nathan's confused stare, "I want to be close to you. Is that ok? I've never felt like this before and I don't know if it's bad or good but I want to feel this feeling more!"
"Ooooh you can't turn that down young one! Go! Be merry!" Napoleon said loudly, giving Nathan a firm slap on the back.
"GUrh. I mean… It's… It's just sharing a bed. I guess it'll be fine…"
"Ah! Thank you!"
Gerda let go of Nathan's hand in favor of wrapping her arms around him, apparently catching him completely off guard.
"Thank you… Thank you so much…"
The scene began to fade out as Nathan's arm found its way around her.
"It's… It's not a problem. I'll be here."
"You're so warm Nathan… Promise me you'll be here. Promise me that whatever comes tomorrow you'll be safe and you'll come back to see me."
"I- Yeah. I promise."
The log cabin began to fade away, as if the screen he was watching was being pulled away from him. Time seemed to stop at that embrace, two wayward souls holding close to each other for comfort.
"I broke that promise."
Midoriya nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice sounded next to him. He turned to see Nathan standing there, staring at the retreating scene with a somber air around him.
How did he look so much more tired here in a dream than he did when he was awake?
He didn't know where to go from that. What had he just seen? Was that real? If it was, who were those people with Nathan? Two of them jumped out in his mind as Chaldeans, but the girl that was so close to him was a stranger. How had he never heard of her before now?
He decided to put a voice to those questions
"Was that… Something that happened to you?"
"Yes."
His answer was utterly devoid of emotion. As if it was more of a reflex than a conscious effort, but it was entirely possible that the Nathan beside him wasn't aware of what he was saying.
"Wh-What happened to them? What do you mean that you broke that promise?"
"I left the next morning and I didn't come back. Not even to say goodbye. They wouldn't let me. They were afraid I'd try to bring her onto the Shadow Border. It wouldn't have saved her. I knew it wouldn't have saved her but… But I wanted to go back. I'd give so much just to hear her laugh again. Just to see her. Just to feel her hand clasp around mine again…"
"You mean she's-"
"She's gone. Erased from existence."
"Who could do such a thing?"
"I did. All Might spoke to us about not being able to save everyone. But this was different. Not only did I fail to save her. I was the one she needed saving from."
Midoriya let out a strangled yelp as that honest answer attacked his heart.
"I erased her from existence to save myself and the world we live in. And I knew I was going to have to do that from the moment I met her. But I still…"
Nathan clutched at his heart with his left hand.
"Nathan… I-"
"All I can do is remember her now. Dream of her getting to grow up in a world free of giants and ice. This world wouldn't permit her existence but that doesn't mean she wasn't alive. It doesn't mean she wasn't loved…"
Midoriya put a hand on Nathan's shoulder as the boy struggled with a great tempest of emotions threatening to explode out of him.
"I can't do it. I cannot become a hero like you or All Might. How can someone look at her and say that she has no right to exist? No one can! Most certainly not a good person, nor a hero! But I did! It was her or me and I destroyed her!"
The ground beneath them cracked as his emotions swirled inward.
A horrible straining sound shook the world of dreams.
He couldn't even begin to comprehend what was racing through Nathan's mind. Why had he been pushed to such an extreme? Why had it been him or her? No wait, it was worse than that wasn't it? If everything he was seeing was a reflection of the truth Nathan experienced, and he said that he had to destroy her to save the world…
There was something deeply wrong with that scale.
There was no way a human could be put under that kind of pressure and come out the other end ok.
Even All Might was struggling under the weight of his position as the symbol of peace.
Midoriya followed his instincts and hugged his friend.
Gerda was right. He was warm.
But was it a warmth born of love, or was it born from the fires of self loathing right now?
"I can't even… Begin to imagine what this was like… The choices you're talking about don't make any sense to me at all, but… You're here, and if you need a helping hand I promise to help you just as much as you're helping me! If not more!"
"I… I just…"
The ground continued to rumble, something dark bubbling up from the cracks before collecting together in the shape of a person.
A person Midoriya recognized.
"It's time to go," The Count of Monte Cristo said, "Wallowing in despair like this won't get you anywhere."
Nathan just bit his lip and nodded before looking at Midoriya and smiling an empty smile.
"Thank you. And. I'm sorry Izuku.."
Midoriya shot upright, quickly looking over to his friend's bed roll, expecting him to still be asleep.
However, it looked like they'd woken up at the same time. A sharp clack sounded as Nathan's right arm filled out, his scales all popping neatly into place.
"Um. Nathan-"
"What is it Izuku?"
"I- I had a dream, and I think you were… You were there? I-"
The details were leaving him quickly, but he felt like he'd caught a glimpse of the great weight Nathan was struggling under.
"I think you're a good person. I think… No matter what… As long as you're willing to help people… You can be a hero!"
Nathan looked at him, his expression frozen somewhere around bemused.
"Thank you…? Now then. We've got school don't we? Do you want to get a Chaldean ride there?"
"Absolutely."
The next day it was revealed that their plans had changed. Due to the looming threat of Shigaraki and his group UA changed their plans, keeping them largely a secret until the day of. Classes continued to wind down as the semester came to an end. A week later they were summoned back to campus to begin their summer training.
And not just 1-A.
The kid with the copy quirk, Monoma Nathan loosely recalled, was loudly berating the gathered 1-A about having a few failures in their class.
At least until one of his peers knocked him out with a strong blow to the back of the head.
That much at least seemed pretty standard, Nathan dealt with a lot of Chaldeans that just would not stop unless forced to by a swift blow to the neck.
Usually Gramps or Edmond were always on hand to help but-
He looked to his shadow and found it oddly light.
He had no mystic codes, no Gate of Babylon, and no Servants…
Was this what it was going to feel like if Chaldea ever disbanded?
"It's not like we all think poorly of you, and no hard feelings from the sports festival, right?"
One of the 1-B Girls was speaking to his classmates, but there was another in her group that he recognized by name.
"Ah. Hey, Good to see you again Kodai Yui," He said with a smile, causing her to flinch and look away from him, hiding her face from view.
"Oh hey, if it isn't the sports festival winner himself! Don't think I've been introduced aside from meeting your electricity, Tokage Setsuna!"
"It's nice to meet you, I am sorry about all of that-"
"Hey! I said no hard feelings, yeah? Let's be good friends!" She detached her arm and sent it out to shake his left hand.
"Ah. Sure."
It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone disassemble themselves, but she was certainly the first living person he'd seen do it.
Kodai finally turned back to greet Nathan, having apparently been given a quick pep talk by the other girls there.
"H-Hello! Mm! G-good to see you!"
He wasn't entirely sure why her face was red or why the two were earning snickers from her friends but he gave her a small bow all the same.
"Hey! How do you know the girls from 1-B!? Is there something you're hiding from me electricity bro!?" Kaminari asked as he began clinging to Nathan desperately.
"Not really, I've only ever met Kodai-san in passing, I was just saying hi."
The usually stoic Kodai froze up and again turned away from them, earning a reassuring pat from one of the other girls present.
"Class 1-A's bus is this way! Everyone line up in order!" Iida called out.
"Well. I guess we'll see you at the camp, safe travels."
"Sure sure~!" Tokage called out as their groups split.
Loading onto the bus and setting out was nice and orderly thanks to Iida's direction.
Once the bus was moving though, it was pure chaos.
Thankfully he had a window seat next to one Todoroki Shoto, one of the quieter members of his class, so at least he wasn't subject to too much of it directly.
"I'm curious about something," Todoroki said, barely audible over the shouting of the rest of the class.
"What's up?"
"You said being in burning buildings throws you off. Are you afraid of fire?"
Nathan looked at him as he began to carefully put his answer together.
"Well… Yes and no. I didn't mind when I was facing you… But being in environments that are on fire is… Bad? And of course I don't think anyone really enjoys being on fire."
Todoroki just nodded in response.
"You don't have to worry about using your fire side around me, that should be fine. Do whatever you have to do to win and I'll adapt,"
"If you say so. If it's a problem let me know…"
"Of course! Thank you Todoroki-kun, I appreciate the thought."
"Mh,"
The two fell back into a comfortable silence as the cacophony their classmates produced increased in volume.
Eventually the bus came to a stop, but they were not at a rest stop. It looked more like a sightseeing stop where wandering tourists could safely pull over to take pictures of the view.
Nathan couldn't get a good feel for where they were in relation to where they'd started which would make radioing in for help a problem in the worst case scenario.
Not that blowing a command seal required detailed coordinates…
Another car pulled up to the stop. There was no way the timing was a coincidence, especially when Aizawa went to greet it, ignoring the general murmurs of confusion from the class.
"Hiya Eraser!"
"It's been a long time," He said, greeting the figures emerging from the car with a bow.
"Lock on with those sparkling gazes!"
"Stingingly cute and catlike!"
"Wild Wild Pussycats!~" The two very loudly dressed heroes shouted together, striking a pose with a bombast Nathan rarely saw outside of Chaldea.
Aizawa began explaining that they were a pro hero team of four that was going to be helping out with their training. And of course Midoriya jumped in as well, being the hero nerd he was, listing off a few impressive accomplishments before reaching one that he probably should have avoided, prompting the blonde to race forward and grab him by the face.
After a round of greetings were exchanged the other strange catgirl moved to the edge of the outlook.
"We own this whole stretch of land, you all will be staying at the base of that mountain over there!"
Her gesture was a bit too vague but the nearest mountain in that direction was easily several kilometers away. Definitely not the longest trek Nathan had made in a single day but apparently one the rest of his class wasn't prepared for.
"Huh? Then why did we stop half way?" Uraraka muttered.
Because they weren't going to be using the bus anymore. That much was immediately obvious to Nathan as he approached the railing instead of retreating like most of his class.
There were no real signs of industry that he could see through the forest so there was very little he would have to magnetically latch onto.
If he wanted to hit the ground running he'd need to use what little was here.
"Sorry, but your training has already begun."
The ground lurched up into a massive wave, catching most of 1-A and tossing them over the ledge. All except Nathan who launched himself off the side before that merciless attack could catch him. He stayed close to the side of the hill so he could use that distant guard rail to soften his landing, hitting the ground hard and rolling into a dead sprint to avoid the landslide containing the rest of his class.
"You've got three hours to reach the facility on foot! Do your best to survive your journey through the Beast's Forest!"
He heard it moving before the others had even collected themselves.
Over half a decade of running through forests that contained all manner of mythical creatures had honed his senses for just this sort of scenario.
It was bigger than an average Chimera that's for sure, but he couldn't hear it breathing. That meant it was either undead or inorganic. The attack that pushed his class off the cliff had been mostly dirt, considering that there were only so many pro heroes present it was likely that this creature was also some sort of earth monster.
If that was the case there might not be much he could do to the creature beyond melting some of its materials together.
Even doing that much might be able to shift the creature outside of the realm of "Dirt" and into something that couldn't be manipulated by one of their supervisors.
"The Beast's forest? Really? That name's right out of Dragon Quest-"
Nathan attacked immediately, electricity arcing from his arm to the creature. It barely staggered but it seemed to catch fire. Now that it was properly lit he could see that part of its body was made from tree roots.
He immediately stopped electrocuting it, swearing under his breath as he began transforming his hand to ready an arc fusion blade.
"Wh- There actually are Beasts here!?" Sero screamed, the class's attention properly drawn by Nathan's attack.
"Kaminari-kun! They have roots inside them! If they're fresh we need to be careful!"
"Wh-"
Ice raced past Nathan, trapping the creature's legs before it could move to attack.
Bakugo, Midoriya, and Iida immediately smashed it to pieces, each of them rushing forward instinctively.
Nathan seemed to be caught off guard for a moment as he was overtaken but he quickly shifted, a wide smile spreading across his face as he joined the front line.
Shoji and Jiro provided them with ample radar, allowing the class to effectively split and take down the myriad earth monsters blocking their path.
Nathan and Kaminari split off to take one of the ones clinging to the treetops.
"Why do we have to be careful Electricity bro?" Kaminari asked as Nathan used his leg to stun the creature.
"If we concentrate too heavily on live lumber, the electricity will evaporate all the water inside it. That's why trees explode when lightning hits them sometimes, the water vapor creates a ton of pressure inside and blows the tree apart. It's a problem for anyone in mid to close range because of shrapnel."
"Dude that's next level shit! Stay back then! I'll take care of this one!"
Kaminari charged the creature as it fell, jumping on top of it and pumping 1.3 million volts into it.
This one didn't seem to have nearly as many root structures inside it as the other one so it did not explode.
But Kaminari did fry his brain, forcing Nathan to hoist him over his left shoulder and continue on, rejoining the larger group and carving through opponents with his arc cutter.
"Shoji! Can you take care of him?" Nathan shouted as he split an earth beast straight in half before it could attack the group.
"R-Right!" He got out before Kaminari was tossed in his direction with a surprising amount of force.
They might have taken away his mystic codes but he didn't need those for reinforcement.
Even if he was a terrible mage he was still a little bit of one, and mages on the whole viewed rules as a suggestion more than anything.
"This is going to take too long like this. Midoriya, Iida! You're with me! Bakugo! Stay back and provide us support!"
"FUCK YOU DRAGON BASTARD!" Bakugo roared as he rocketed ahead of the group, blasting a path clear through the gathering monsters.
"Good, Todoroki keep them off balance with your ice, Sato, Kirishima, Ojirou, Shoji, smash through everything he traps! Jiro, you and Koda keep scouting! They're being formed from the earth around us so listen for anything rustling in the cardinal directions and let people know. Momo! Get some artillery that can be easily moved! Uraraka, Tsuyu, Mina, Hagakure, Aoyama, keep to the rearguard and push everyone forward, funnel everything chasing us into Iida and Midoriya for quick kills!"
The previously widely spread out class formed up into a tight unit, following Bakugo's trail and wiping out everything that came close to them. Nathan pushed to the vanguard, relaying orders as Jiro and Koda sounded off enemy positions. Every time Bakguo stopped blitzing forward Nathan would give him an order, ensuring that his rage would keep him on a steady pace.
The Wild Wild Pussycats had given them roughly three hours to clear the forest.
If they spread out, taking on threats as they rose up they'd never make it in time.
But moving as a unit under experienced direction?
They came stumbling out of the forest weary and exhausted.
"Aizawa what the hell are you teaching these kids?" The blonde pro hero, likely the one with the dirt quirk they'd been battling this whole time, let out a low whistle.
They'd made the journey in just over three hours, when in reality the Wild Wild Pussycats had expected them to take anywhere from five to seven.
He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the group. They were far too organized. He'd heard Pixie-Bob's commentary as she tried to devise strategies to slow the group down but they had adapted extremely quickly in a way that spoke less of pure instinct and more of practiced guidance.
There was one obvious culprit in the center front of the group that was currently being yelled at by Bakugo.
At least his hunch that pairing Nathan with his peers would have led them to getting swept up by his strategies was right. But… How had he managed the entire class in a high stress situation well enough to get them through that forest at a pro hero's pace? That was even more ridiculous than he'd imagined.
The group was complaining and hungry but they'd made it in time for a late lunch.
"Unreal. Absolutely unreal, especially you five," Pixie-Bob gestured to the group of Midoriya, Todoroki, Nathan, Bakugo, and Iida, "I take it your previous encounters allowed you to act without a shred of hesitation."
Aizawa shook his head as Pixie-Bob moved to claim that group as hers prompting him to question exactly why she was so high strung.
It was around then that Midoriya inquired about the small child that seemed to be accompanying the pro heroes at every leg of this journey.
The child had been absolutely radiating hostility the entire time so it was only natural that Midoriya would start to worry about him. Nathan opened his mouth but the words wouldn't come. Someone that closed off would not react well to the kind of salvation Midoriya was offering. At least not at first. Persistence was the key here, so he had to take whatever reaction this boy gave him.
Everyone winced when the reaction was a swift punch to the groin, Iida rushing to Midoriya's aid as Kota trotted off.
"Cute kid," Bakugo said with a smirk.
"Reminds me a lot of you," Todoroki said quietly, earning Bakugou's ire immediately.
"Go ahead and get your things off the bus and to your rooms. We'll go ahead and have a late lunch. After that go ahead and hit the hotsprings. Since you finished so early you're all free to relax until dinner. Today was just a teaser, your training starts bright and early tomorrow," Aizawa said, attempting to regain control over the class.
Lunch had been amazing, especially after their grueling trip through the Beast's Forest.
It wasn't quite up to Chaldean standards but that was an unfair standard to judge food by.
It was what came after that was a problem for Nathan.
"You gonna join us or you just gonna stand there and stare at the towel rack?" Kirishima asked.
It was a divided open air hot spring.
He definitely needed a bath but-
How could he in this situation?
There was no way he could hide properly.
They were going to see the state of his body… He could probably leave the glove on to keep the command seals hidden but that would draw attention.
Nathan silently stared at the towel in his hands as the rest of his classmates got ready to jump in the spring.
"You ok?" Sero asked.
"Er. It's. Um. I've- I'm a little shy when it comes to erm… Not having a shirt on."
"Come on man, there's nothing to be shy about! It's just us guys!" Kaminari said, patting him on the back.
He flinched at the touch, instinctively taking a step away from its source and putting his back to a wall.
"Lay off him,"
All eyes turned to the owner of the voice.
Bakugo didn't even give Nathan a sideways glance after speaking up for him.
He offered no further words of understanding or encouragement, simply continuing into the spring proper.
Nathan blinked before shaking the shock of Bakugo of all people coming to his defense.
Everyone else just shrugged and left Nathan to his own devices.
He decided he'd bathe after dinner when nobody else was around, they were getting a fair bit of free time so there was little doubt anyone would fight him on it.
With a soft nod to himself Nathan left the springs and began to wander the facility.
He'd only been meandering for a few minutes before he managed to cross paths with Aizawa.
His teacher looked him up and down, the question 'what are you doing here?' dying in his throat as he realized what the rest of the class was up to.
"I'm going to go later when nobody else is around…" Nathan said sheepishly.
"I understand. Actually. This is good. There was something I wanted to ask you about."
"Hm?"
"During the trek through the forest… No, even before that, at the sports festival and USJ. You've displayed an exceptionally high level of prowess when it comes to commanding others during a battle." Aizawa started as they walked back to the students quarters together.
Nathan didn't like where this line of questioning was going. He was sure he wasn't going to be able to provide Aizawa with a satisfactory answer.
"There are a lot of students with natural talent starting this year, but along with everything else we've seen it's hard to believe that is the case with you…"
Nathan's gaze focused straight ahead as they walked, locking his expression in place so that nothing would leak out.
"In the interest of helping you become a hero I want to know where you've been so I can help you grow. As a teacher it is important to know what I'm working with… So I am asking you directly, what happened to you before you came to UA?"
Nothing about Nathan Relnor made sense when looked at objectively. His birth year did not match his current age. His level of competence in the face of overwhelming killing intent was practiced. His quirk was honed to a ridiculous degree to deal massive pinpoint damage, allowing him to steal victories from opponents who were vastly more powerful than he was.
The only thing that made it all fit together is if Nathan Relnor had been through hell starting at a young age. Was he the product of some kind of secret hero creation program? Had he been involved in some kind of large scale conflict in another country before coming here? With so little to go on he could only imagine the worst.
"I was born in a fire," Nathan replied, his tone flat.
"What?"
"I don't actually remember much before a certain point. But everything changed in that fire. They held my hand as we fought through the blaze. They saved me, and in return I gave them the tools to save everything else. I gave and was given things in return. It's only natural I'd come out the other end mixed up like this."
Aizawa tried to piece together what he could from that answer. Nathan was implying he'd gone through something horribly traumatic but that was not new information. Anyone who looked at him for more than a few seconds could see that. If he was talking about a literal fire that would explain his reaction during the exam but it was hard to tell one way or another.
"They? As in Chaldea?"
"Yes. They're not bad people. They just had a job to do and they couldn't do it as they were so I did what I could. It really was a ragtag group barely scraping by at every moment but we made it here."
It must have been just as frustrating for Nathan. He'd frozen his expression in place and flattened his tone in an almost practiced manner. But there was no way he didn't feel anything towards something so traumatic. Why couldn't he allow himself to express his emotions? Was he that afraid of speaking out of turn?
"I'm sure Sherlock's told you that Chaldea wasn't always as robust as it is now. It was just me and a few others before but I put the work in and managed to convince a bunch of people to help us out and now here we are!"
Wait.
Nathan had recruited those heroes? Was he some kind of mascot for the organization? Is that why he was capable of connecting groups together so quickly?
"I see…" Aizawa muttered before they reached a fork in the hall, "Get some rest. Training's going to be tough even for you."
Nathan just let out a sharp chuckle as he turned towards the student's sleeping rooms, "I will. Thank you for your concern. I'm sorry I can't be more honest with you. Chaldea's secrets are something worth keeping, even if it doesn't seem fair."
Aizawa didn't respond. He wasn't so sure about that but at this point there was little he could do to break through the wall both Sherlock and Nathan were putting up before him.
He stood with the class bright and early at 5:30am. The sun was barely peeking over the mountains and everyone was suffering from such an early rise.
Waking up this early wasn't a problem for him but he hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something vitally important, causing him to worry the entire night away.
Despite this Nathan seemed to be one of the more collected of 1-A, but then again he was used to having to go a few days without sleep if the situation called for it.
"Morning. Today the real training starts. It will be difficult but you'll emerge out the other end stronger. Strong enough to earn your provisional license if all goes well. We're facing an unprecedented rise in villain activity so we're upping the speed of our program to match. Now then…"
Aizawa tossed something to Bakugo.
"Isn't this the ball from our strength test?" He asked, looking it over.
"At the start of the year your record was 705.2 meters. I wonder how much you've grown since then."
Bakugo smirked and began to wind up his throw as the class grew excited about the prospect of seeing an objective measure of their growth.
With a massive blast Bakugo flung the ball as hard as he could.
Aizawa looked at the device, waiting for it to land and register a distance.
The smile creeping across his face did not suggest good things.
"709.6 meters."
That tracked, Nathan thought to himself, they hadn't been focusing on strengthening their actual quirks very much, mostly technique and the basics of heroics.
Aizawa continued along that line, saying they'd undoubtably grown but that their quirks had yet to be pushed enough to build up strength. They had certainly learned a few new ways to use them but the actual quirks themselves hadn't grown more powerful.
"Starting today, we'll be focusing on improving your quirks! It'll be so hellish that you'll wish you were dead but try to survive!"
The entire class was taken by the power in Aizawa's delivery but Nathan hesitated.
It was true his quirk hadn't grown much since he started attending UA, but that was because he'd been forced to push his quirk well beyond its original capabilities long ago.
The Wild Wild Pussycats sprang out from the treeline and began dividing the class, working with each individual student on how best to stress their quirk.
One of them apparently had a quirk that gave detailed scans of anyone she looked at, with the other heroes using that as a baseline to structure the training of each student.
Nathan was weary. He hoped that the parts of himself that no longer belonged to the surface of the world wouldn't register for her.
"Heya! I'm Ragdoll! I'm gonna give you a quick once over with my Quirk and we'll see what we're working with here!" She said as she looked him up and down.
Something was visceral wrong with that boy, so much so that she almost doubled over the second she activated her quirk.
She put a steadying hand on his shoulder as she tried to sort through everything.
Nothing she was reading made any sense. There was simply too much to take in. The residual ghosts of damage so severe she had no idea how he'd survived receiving it. Not to mention the strange additional system flowing through his body that she simply could not properly understand beyond observing that it was there. Did it have something to do with his quirk? No. It seemed entirely separate-
"Hey Ragdoll? Is something wrong?" Mandalay asked out loud, causing Aizawa and the rest of the Wild Wild Pussycats to stop and turn their attention towards her.
This was too much. There was just no way. Things that could cause the kind of damage she was seeing did not exist . The more she tried to analyze him the less and less human he seemed.
"I'm sorry, but please… Just. Just focus on my quirk ok?" Nathan said as he helped her keep her balance.
"R-right- I- Are you- What happened to you!?"
"I know we're supposed to be going through hell here but I've already been," Nathan said with a tired smile that was absolutely overflowing with love.
Ragdoll took a moment before straightening up, shaking her head and patting her cheeks.
"Ok- So- So your quirk… Is it really that painful to regrow!? Do you use any anesthetics?"
"Er. Yes. If I have to regrow an entire limb I usually have to take local anesthetics after I do it and get a lot of rest."
She shook her head. They could replenish the nutrition lost from having to replace those limbs, but the level of aesthetic he would need to deal with the pain wouldn't be conducive to the schedule they were running.
Looking at it as a whole, Nathan's quirk was already hyper specialized almost to the point where she was struggling to imagine a way to change his scale composition to allow for more power.
"It wasn't always this bad but as it got more complicated it got worse and worse to grow more," Nathan said, offering a chuckle for something that was absolutely not a laughing matter.
"If your scales are already maxed out and you can already grow them into an arm then the only weakness I'm seeing that we have any hope of improving is maybe your dexterity? Your hand is just a complex grabby claw at this point… Why don't we make you a table, strap your arm down and see if we can get you to move one finger at a time?"
That was something he'd tried to work on before but power and efficiency had come first. Even the process of practicing with his quirk enough to form a hand with all five fingers had been an arduous journey.
"Right. Right. That's- That's all I'm comfortable pushing you on right now. I need to think about it more and there's still more students so that'll be your job for today. Move a single finger instead of all of them!"
At least she was recovering quickly.
With his path set he started to work alongside the rest of his class. Everyone was pushing themselves to their limits and beyond, completely overworking their quirks to the point where half of them looked like they were ready to drop dead.
Meanwhile Nathan was simply trying to move a single finger on his right hand.
The divide of activity didn't seem fair, but as the day went on and everyone saw how much effort it was taking him to simply move one individual figure they began to question how hard his daily life was.
His quirk was undoubtedly powerful, and having most of an arm made out of scales allowed him to generate truly monstrous amounts of energy.
But why had he prioritized that instead of having a working hand?
By dinner time everyone was dead on their feet and Nathan had completely failed to move a single finger.
"I think it's a structure thing. I might have to look at how my scales are arranged to see if I can give them more range of motion, but then I might have a harder time shifting them around for my railgun or arc cutter," Nathan muttered to an exhausted Yaoyorozu.
"Do you have a detailed diagram of how you regrow your scales to make your arm?"
"Yeah, Chaldea helped me work it out on top of helping me actually practice growing it at all. I think the best way to describe it right now is hm… It's like I'm trying to move my toes individually. It's just not something I can do right now but maybe with practice and a little tweaking…"
She nodded to him as they arrived together at the campsite, finding tables full of raw ingredients.
"The pampering is over now kids! You wanna eat? You gotta cook for yourself!"
Nathan blanched. He was a good cook in theory, but even after practicing he still couldn't hold a knife steady in his left hand. He decided to take charge of the recipe rather than the actual preparation of ingredients, enduring a few jokes at the expense of his British heritage.
"Oui, Oui, Are you going to have us add a single grain of salt to the mix?" Aoyama asked with a chuckle.
"Only if you insist we add snails into the mix, french boy," Nathan replied as he tampered with the spices a bit.
Pooling together they managed to produce a curry that was quite delicious for how exhausted they were.
It was essential to be able to cook meals for yourself in case disaster struck and you were off on your own. In theory Nathan could manage some simpler dishes but as he was now something of this caliber was impossible by himself.
As they ate Nathan noticed Midoriya's attention drift away slightly.
"What's eating you?" Nathan asked.
"Oh um- well. It's Kota. He just left and I-"
"The kid that punched you in the junk?"
"Y-yeah- well. Um. Oh, I guess you missed it but uh, some stuff happened and I wound up taking him to Mandalay and talking about… His situation,"
"You're worried about him, huh?"
"Yeah. I just- I want to help him."
"Keep at it. Slow and steady is the only way you're gonna get through a wall like that," Nathan said between bites of food.
"How can you tell how to get through someone's trauma before you've even learned their name and can you teach me how to do it?" Midoriya asked earnestly, catching Nathan off guard somewhat.
"Er. Well. It's generally just a people reading thing. I've had a lot of practice but it's more in the sense of, is this person going to help me or hurt me."
Midoriya's eyes narrowed. He didn't even bother attempting to ask why that was necessary, there was no need to add the stress of not being able to answer honestly to Nathan's day.
"Well. If you have any other pointers I'm all ears."
"You're good. I don't actually think you need much help, you were going to go after him anyway weren't you?"
Midoriya just nodded.
"That's the right call I think. Just be ready to bounce off that wall a few times."
"Right, thanks Nathan."
"No problem Izuku."
He waved Midoriya off as he ran after Kota with an extra plate of food in his hands.
With that the class cleaned off the area before heading to bed.
Nathan found himself wide awake, passing the time by staring at the ceiling and letting his mind wander.
His quirk was at its apex already, but what if he couldn't figure out a way to structure it so he could move his fingers…
Replacing his scale arm with another kind of prosthetic was something that had been brought up before.
Hell he already had a few different prosthetics to try.
But they couldn't quite make up for the catastrophic drop in scale count. His scales allowed him to both attack and maneuver and having his right arm almost entirely made of them increased his abilities exponentially.
But.
What they lacked in power they made up for in utility.
They could hold a knife properly.
They could allow him to do all kinds of things he couldn't imagine doing with his arm the way that it was.
His arm was a weapon.
Everything else had been sacrificed for the power to overturn the world's destruction.
But the world was no longer in danger of being destroyed.
So… Why did he still need the power that right arm offered him?
For now, he needed it to be a better hero. That was a good enough reason to keep it.
Morning came quickly enough, despite his inability to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time.
This time he was really starting to feel the lack of sleep on his body.
He could feel his senses dulling from fatigue, so when Ragdoll surprised him with an eyepatch and instructed him to work on his electromagnetic vision he found himself struggling all the more.
"You're all looking sluggish today. Keep it up. No matter what you're doing you should always be aware of where you came from. That's the key to improvement. Keep in mind why you're sweating and why you're getting nagged."
Nathan's mind briefly flashed between several memories of Chaldea. Nathan had undeniably come from a completely different world than his peers, but where was he going now? Was he going to settle here? Or would he be dragged back?
Tiger took that opportunity to rush him, Nathan only barely diving out of the way of the massive blob of electromagnetic energy he was seeing. But he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and wound up colliding with a solid wall.
"Woah, You alright Relnor-san?"
Wait, that wasn't a wall. That voice was familiar.
"Hrng- TetsuTetsu-san?" Nathan muttered as he steadied himself on his former companion.
"You're slowing down! You were much faster on your trip through the forest! Come on!"
"Gurh" Nathan groaned out as he turned towards where Tiger's voice had been. Only to find there was nothing his scales could detect. Taking a gamble he dove forward into a clumsy roll.
"Man they really have been pushing you guys haven't they?" Tetsutetsu shouted, "You're pretty ragged man."
"I'm trying my best," Nathan said upon finally locking onto the fast moving pro hero.
"That's the spirit!" Tiger shouted as he rushed him.
The day pushed on, Nathan getting batted around by Tiger before being forced to try to identify his peers based on what he could see with his right.
It was even more grueling than the previous day.
"Meow meow! Listen up everyone! Tonight both classes are going head to head in a test of courage! Intense training deserves intense fun as a reward after all!" Pixie-Bob shouted.
All Nathan really wanted to do tonight was sleep. He was sure whatever was bothering him would not be able to stand up to the amount of fatigue he'd accumulated over the last two days.
"Going head to head! I like it!" Monoma shouted, trying to cover his shaky voice by being loud.
"That said! You're not done with your training today! Keep it up!"
Nathan couldn't help but let out a groan. This absolutely wasn't the most intense training he'd ever received. The Celts and the Greeks had everyone beat when it came to that. But the lack of sleep was starting to become a major problem.
"Hey. You've got a scale quirk too right?"
"Huh?"
Nathan reached to lift the eyepatch before Tiger smacked his hand. He had no idea who was approaching him based on what he was seeing but if they were talking about having a scale quirk they had to be in 1-B.
"Ah sorry. We've never met before, I'm Rin Hiryu, nice to meet you Relnor-san."
"Likewise, A-anyway what did you want to know? About scales?"
"Yeah. Monoma's practicing with my quirk and I was wondering if you'd let him copy yours too so he could try alternating between them."
"Ah-" Nathan turned to the other person, apparently Monoma, "That's a bad idea."
"Eh? Saying your quirk is too good for me to copy!? You 1-A scumbags are all alike-"
"My quirk isn't terribly user friendly, it would hurt to grow them and remove them," Nathan explained with a tired smile.
"Really? Is that why they haven't been making you grow scales like crazy this whole time?"
"Y-yeah. Replacing an arm or a leg… I'd need to lie down for a while, it's not quite as bad as when I lost them but it's up there,"
"Lost th-"
Monoma's mind tripped over itself.
That right arm… It was a little too thin to be covered in scales wasn't it?
"Wait those aren't-" Hiryu muttered.
Nathan had no idea what their expressions were but he could guess they were probably pretty close to those of his classmates when they first found out.
Monoma narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder, copying his quirk.
"Wait what are you doing?" Nathan asked.
"Shut up, I won't let any of you 1-A elites be better than me so I need to know what-"
He activated Nathan's quirk, growing a small patch of scales on his right arm.
He let out a sharp scream and staggered back somewhat.
His eyes locked on the blindfolded Nathan Relnor.
That kid grew two entire limbs like this? The lingering pain felt like he'd burned his arm, and he'd only grown a small patch. The pain at the base of Nathan's severed limbs had to be insane to grow as many scales as he did.
"Are you alright?" Nathan asked.
"Are you!?" Monoma shot back
"Er-"
Monoma released Nathan's quirk, but the scales remained, he'd have to remove them himself which did not strike him as an appealing process.
"M-Make sure to add some extra iron to your diet tonight. Depending on how many you grew, that is."
Monoma shook his head. A laundry list of unkind things to say raced through his mind, but in the face of what this boy was doing to himself just to stand on his own two feet, all of them felt inadequate.
"Come on, let's keep pushing it." Monoma said sharply, turning away from Nathan.
"A-alright? Nice to meet you, Relnor-san!"
Nathan waved them both off as he went back to attempting to identify various blobs as people he knew.
Training went on for a few more hours until it was finally time to make dinner. Nathan found himself seated at a pot, aimlessly stirring as his attention drifted off.
He wondered how Chaldea was managing by themselves.
Given that the planet had yet to explode it was safe to say that they hadn't gone completely crazy yet.
"Hey, Earth to Nathan! How's the stock coming along?" One Hagakure Toru asked, snapping him back to reality.
"It's coming along I think," He said, taking a taste of it, "Maybe we could throw in some shallots to give it a little more… Something y'know,"
"Oooh yeah! Good call! I'll go see if we can't get some sliced up. Hang in there alright! Tonight will be fun!"
"It'll be fun if they let me take a nap."
"Oh come on you can nap any other time!"
God he wished she'd been right about that. Maybe he wouldn't be running on empty at the moment.
"Eheh… Right…" He said with a chuckle as he kept stirring.
He watched as Midoriya and Todoroki spoke of something, probably Kota since that seemed to be Midoriya's focus at the moment.
A true hero saved everyone he could and Midoriya was hard at work saving Kota.
He was really glad he had a friend like Midoriya. At the very least if he started falling off the path he knew Midoriya would catch him.
Something about that thought warmed his heart in a way that struck him as odd but he shook it off.
Soon they would eat and then they would proceed to whatever this test of courage was.
"Ugh. You look dead." Jiro said as she dumped some extra ingredients into the stock.
"We all look a little bit dead. But at least we're going to have fun tonight in theory.
"In theory is right. I'm not too good with scary stuff man,"
"Ah. Well. I'm sure it won't be super bad. This seems pretty impromptu. I doubt they'll have anything too elaborate out there."
"Don't speak things into existence."
"You're right, I'm sorry." Nathan said with a solemn nod.
"Ah well. At least it will be a break from all this work,"
"We take the small comforts where we can I suppose,"
They shared a quiet laugh before Jiro was urged back into action by Iida.
With great effort they completed a truly wonderful dish before being herded into the woods.
"Man I can't wait! Test of courage! Aren't you excited Nathan?" Mina shouted, shaking him into a state that was probably close to awake.
"Sorry to break it to you remedial group but you've got extra lessons with me right now." Aizawa said.
"Wh- NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With Mina shouting at full volume in his ear before getting dragged off with the rest, Nathan was at least alive enough to last out the rest of this test of courage nonsense.
"Right then! Let's explain! Class B will be on the offensive first! Class A will head into the forest in pairs, one team every three minutes! You'll find name cards at the halfway point! Grab yours and bring them back here!"
"What a mad banquet of darkness…" Tokoyami muttered, catching the attention of everyone around him.
"Scarers aren't allowed to touch you of course! Use your quirks to scare the pants off of each other!" Pixie-Bob said excitedly.
"Get creative! Whichever class causes the other to wet their pants more wins!"
With the rules set they gathered around and began drawing lots. Even with the remedial group removed there was an even number so thankfully no one had to take the path alone.
Nathan found himself standing next to Ojiro, doing his very best to stay awake as the groups ordered themselves. There was some commotion from Bakugo who wanted to switch with basically anyone but the groups were set and there was no turning back.
"Man you look like you can barely keep your eyes open," Ojiro said softly as Nathan directed a blank stare to the forest before him.
"I've operated on this little sleep before but I'll need a pretty big external stimulus to be fully alert at this point…" Nathan muttered.
"Hah. Hopefully 1-B will be able to scare you awake."
"Here's hoping, I'm sure it will count against us if 'pass out from being frightened' as it were."
"You just not been getting sleep?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure why but-"
Nathan trailed off as his attention locked onto something else.
His focus sharpened immediately.
It was such a drastic change Ojiro was knocked somewhat off balance.
"Hey what's wrong?"
"Can't you smell it!?" Nathan asked, pointing into the distance.
He followed his finger, the rest of the class starting to pick up on what Nathan was detecting.
Smoke.
Black smoke.
Something was wrong.
"I know Todoroki is out there but there's no way he's made it over there for long enough to start a fire that big," Nathan muttered before his attention snapped to something closer.
Pixie-Bob was grabbed by an invisible force and dragged away from the group before a loud crack sounded.
Two figures emerged from that scuffle, one of them having knocked her out with a heavy blow to the head from… Something large and metal from the looks of it.
"No way… Villains!? How are there villains here!?" Someone shouted as Nathan and Midoriya snapped into action, only to be held back by Tiger and Mandalay.
"Damn," She muttered.
"Pleased to meet you UA students! We are the vanguard of the League of Villains!" the Lizard man shouted.
Nathan's right arm flared to life, sparks shooting off of it before the other villain threatened to crush Pixie-Bob's head. As much as he wanted to just neutralize them instantly he couldn't do it while they were still in contact with her. There was no telling what a stray shock of that magnitude could do to someone who already had a concussion.
Thankfully.
"I am Spinner! And I intend to make Stain's dreams come true!" The lizard shouted, unsheathing his truly ridiculous weapon. Even some Chaldeans would look at that and just laugh. A bundle of swords lashed together with chains? There was no way that was going to be effective against anyone.
Tiger was furious at the sheer fact that Pixie-Bob had been attacked, his hostility coloring the air around him as he and Spinner took stances.
"Tiger! I've broadcast the order! Ragdoll will make sure the other students are safe! It's our job to hold them back here! Everyone else! You need to fall back! Leave the villains to us pros! Get them back safe class president,"
Iida nodded with a true sense of purpose but Midoriya did not move.
"Mandalay! I know where Kota is!"
Nathan could see her thoughts grind to a stop at that simple statement.
"... Please. Go get him!"
"I'll back you up," Nathan added, seeing an opportunity.
"Thank you both!" Mandalay called out as they began their mad dash through the woods.
"Can you handle getting him on your own?" Nathan asked.
"Huh?"
"That fire has me worried. I want to go support Ragdoll if at all possible. Our classmates are spread out, our enemies are an unknown quantity. If I can do the fighting for her she can focus on logistics so we can stay on top of this mess."
Midoriya was quiet for a moment as they ran.
"You know where she is from here?"
"No but I was going to just run towards the carnage and see if I can figure it out from there. Take out a few stragglers if I can," He said with an all too casual smile.
"Alright. I know you can handle yourself. Just promise me this. Come back safe ok?"
"You too Izuku!"
With that they smashed their fists together before Nathan split off, running towards the pillars of smoke.
He ran for what felt like an eternity. With nobody by his side his mind began to wander. Someone with a fire quirk strong enough to burn this much of the forest wasn't an ideal match, but it'd be better if he could take them out before they caught anyone else.
Once he got close enough he'd probably be able to spot them with his electromagnetic vision.
It was a lot of ground to cover and he was well and truly alone, but he'd been through far far worse.
He adjusted his course slightly. He could tell by the smell that he was close to the active fire.
Now he just had to be on the lookout.
Blue fire slammed into him from his left, completely knocking him off balance. He leaped forward, desperate to clear the blast radius of whatever attack had just hit him.
"Well well. Looks like my special assignment came all the way out here to meet me. Great. Thanks for saving me the trouble kid!"
As Nathan turned towards the source of the voice, his arm sparking as he readied an attack, his vision was completely overtaken by blue flames.
Hahaha! Ha! Well I'm sure everything will be fine! Hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long for the next chapter!~
I have a general idea of how the next few chapters are gonna go and I'm super excited to finally get to them. I hope you all enjoyed this! See you soon!