Being cut up is not a good experience. Being cut up by your own [sweat] is also not very fun. Like at all. Bell can now attest to that.

He reaches up to rub at his throat at the stitches on his neck but a glare from the doctor stops him in his tracks. "Now now, we already told you how sever your injuries are, touching them will only make them worse, [Commander]."

That! Since the [Graduation] event was more of a formality than anything, his name is now among the dozens of new [Commanders] waiting to be sent somewhere to do their job. He should be the same and he is, except [Stephen Rune] attacked. A rich kid with a great and psychotic mind who'd roulette as to which students he'd kill on a near daily basis. After beating him to hell and back, his family is now trying to stop me from becoming a [Commander] on the basis of assaulting another student but considering there is evidence of him killing the students and nearly killing him as well it doesn't have as much traction.

Now, both [Nikkes] and [civilians] have to refer to him as 'Commander'.

"It's [Bell] ma'am." He retorts, leaning back on the hospital bed. "Getting respect from a doctor doesn't really sit right with me."

"It's protocol and it's not something I like to break much." She says with a closed eye smile as usual.

"That's bull Miss [Mary], you threatened me with a shot the first time I woke up." Bell pointed out as Mary smiled, chuckling as she reaches for a metallic syringe and brings it up, Bell's eyes widening as he tries to scamper back.

"Well~, what else was I supposed to do~," Mary's eyes were closed as she held a finger to her cheek, her short black hair doing nothing to hide her face nor the malicious smile in complete opposite to her usual countenance. "You were being so active when you woke that you managed to reopen most of your wounds, most of which were stitched well by our very own darling [Pepper]. She was really sad seeing her patient reopen his own wounds and I was sad that such a foolish man could think he could walk away from the hospital after having a part of his throat cut, losing at least half of his blood, and finding himself twenty pounds lighter than his last checkup which wasn't even an entire week ago." She says, her hands going up to her eyes as if she was about to start crying while Bell was trying to move but couldn't due to the handcuffs keeping him on the bed. "So clearly, I didn't threaten you, I deemed you a possible threat to hospital staff and yourself and as such, decided to sedate you in a timely manner."

"Aren't you supposed to announce things like that on the intercom?" He asks as Mary gently flicks the tip of the metal syringe and she holds a hand to her chin.

"Are you questioning your medical practitioner?" She asked as Bell shook his head in a hurry as she smiled her usual angelic smile. "Good, it'd be a shame if I had to test this new sedative that [M.M.R.] made on a new patient. Considering you're such a strong man," she pats his large biceps before continuing, "I thought using a sedative meant for a tiger should barely be enough."

He flinches back, using the handcuffs to keep him on the bed as he tries to get away from the doctor, "Yep, real shame, I'm sorry for the trouble." He says as she stares at him with a stony gaze in her eyes before they softened and she nodded.

"That's good. Now, since you're awake let me fill you in on your progress." She says, passing him a tablet as he taps it and a picture of his body was shown on the screen. "The surgery was a success, no damage was done to either the spine or the head and the rest is at most surface level. But there were a few deeper wounds like around your arm, back, and a bit on your legs but aside from that, you should be fine in around a week or more of bed rest."

Bell stares at the tablet and sighs. "Doesn't sound too bad, but thanks ma'am."

Her eyes open as she smiles in a way that was definitely not nice. "I said most, I didn't think I had to point out how your left arm had enough holes to reach the bone, your right had enough cuts to look like the victim of a mauling, you had at least one hole that passed though you, the multiple lacerations on your torso and legs, do I need to add more?"

"No! Nah, thanks a lot ma'am, really." Bell says as he sighs in relief when she closes her eyes. He manages a weak but genuine smile. "Thanks again, and sorry for the trouble, really."

She simply sighs, her body relaxing as she simply shakes her head. "It's not your fault, it's the fault of the one who hurt you. And it's my job to take care of the people of the Ark."

She began to walk away, waving away as Bell released a sigh. "Still, your eyes are really pretty." he notes out loud as she seems a bit surprised as she turns with slight smile.

"Well, you'd be one of the few who thinks so." She says as Bell shrugs.

"Then I'll make sure you hear it enough to think you heard it from other people." He says as Mary giggles.

"Personally, I'd like to hear those words a lot less, especially if they come from the same person." She notes, "I don't like seeing the same person under my care more than once, doubly so if they're a [Commander]."

"And I'd feel guilty bothering you while you're working." Bell says before bringing both arms up, the handcuffs impeding him from moving them further as he shrugs. "They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"That they do." Mary relents, turning as she returns to her work, her heart a bit lighter and her smile more genuine.

Meanwhile, outside, a man waits, tall and well built, his face is constantly in a grimace as he listens to Bell interact with Mary. He smirks with fondness in his eyes, watching as Mary leaves the room behind. "Like usual, as smooth as always."

He loses himself in the memories for a second before returning to his usual expression. He walks towards the hospital, knocking on the door before opening it. "Excuse me."

Inside, Bell straightens up, watching as the tall man enters with a serious expression, his eyes roaming up and down Bell's form as he hums. "For someone who scrapped with a serial killer you look remarkably fine."

There was something in that statement that sent alarms through his head, as it he's probing for something and Bell wasn't sure what it was he was looking for. "I...believe scrap would be the wrong word, sir."

"Is it? Could you recount the sequence of events? As a [Commander] you'll have to get used to writing reports." The man says as Bell makes a face.

"Geh." He simply says before sighing, he sighs as he turns to the man, "well, Mr…" He left the statement open for the man to add his name.

"[Andersen]." He says before adding. "Deputy Chief."

That causes Bell to freeze as he comes to a realization according to his memories.

"Shi-I-I mean, er," he stutters out, as he tries to move but remembers the handcuffs keeping him still as he freezes once more. A beat of silence passes over the room as Bell chuckles, "I'd-er-I'd try to salute but as you can see." He says, waving his handcuffed hand as he chuckles, "Sorry."

"Don't be, just recount the events that led up to your...meeting with [Absolute]." He says, his face stern as Bell nods.

"Right." Bell says as he recounted the events, quickly thinking so as to hide the status of [Stands] as he manages to somewhat ad-lib his way out of it.

"And how does this lead to you being found naked by the squad members of [Absolute]?" He points out as Bell licks the inside of his lips and tries to explain it.

"Water. I-I got wet and took of my shirt when he decided to attack." He says as Andersen nods.

"And he got your waistband of both your shorts and underwear?" He points out as Bell nods. "And gave you amnesia?"

"Er, no. I hit my head and just didn't go to the hospital." That was the truth since the original Bell did actually hit his head and got amnesia, leaving him with less information than he thought due to his little interaction with the original game.

Andersen simply nodded, "You need to improve your lying."

"If I'm lying then so are you." Bell challenges as he leans back. "I'm an average [Commander], not that special from any other grunt that came from the [Academy] so why take time out of your day to get an oral report from a guy you barely know."

Andersen simply looks out as he hums. "The Ark is beautiful, is it not?"

"It is…" Bell admits as he turns to the man.

"It's a shame that there are things in here that we, as normal people, can't deal with. But who knows, maybe you can." He says as he gets up. "There is little the [Central Government] doesn't know. But there is even less that the [Central Government] is willing to act on." Was what he finished with as he stepped out of the room.

Left alone, Bell sighs in relief, leaning back as he looks at the ceiling. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

He got a message on his new phone. He opens it and reads it.

[Hello, due to unusual circumstances, Bell DeVoe will have to retake the Commander aptitude tests.]

Looking at it, he sighs as he lets the phone drop.

He's free. Partially. He can walk around but he can't go far away, and it's a bit terrifying if he's honest. It feels like he's constantly being watched at all moments. He can almost feel how people are staring at him. Specifically [Pepper] and [Mary].

They seem very insistent on keeping him safe but he managed to escape from their direct view to enter the small clearing with other patients as he sighs. "What the hell am I gonna do?"

Bell has always has a passing interest in tactics, occasionally getting games like [Fire Emblem] to sate it as well as reading older books on war like [The Art of War]. That said, he barely remembers it if he's honest so it's extremely bothersome. What's more is that if this is a post apocalyptic world then there's a chance he might not be able to read the book, not to mention if he has enough standing to even be allowed to do so. It's all so confusing for someone like him who feels...closed off.

By all technicalities, within the [Ark] he can be considered the oldest person since his soul is from 2023 and this is decades from then. Not to mention…

Bell Robbins.

Bell DeVoe.

Those are his names, yet they are significant somehow.

He… isn't in a rush to find his past or how [Kars] fucked with the timeline, but he is stressed about the test and thinking about anything aside from the test is better.

In the end, he stands up, watching balefully at the [Splendamin] that he refuses to believe is made from something that isn't human. It's good, but he'll always eat it with a suspicious look in his eyes.

He walks by an old man, sitting on a table with a chess board in between and he stops. Maybe…

"Hey." He grabs the attention of the old man. "You playing?"

"Ah, yes, would you like to join?" He offers as Bell nods, sitting in front of the old man. "What's your name?"

"Bell DeVoe." He answers as the old man blinks. Leaning in to get a good look at his neck.

"By God, so you're the one who got his throat cut?" He asks as Bell quirks a brow.

"How do you know that sir?" He asks out of boredom as he proceeds to gather the black pieces.

"How polite, but call me Anton. And word gets around, especially when you need two of the best doctors in the hospital to keep you alive." He notes and Bell nods along.

"Makes sense. You go first." Bell says to Anton as the old man grabs his pawn and moves it forward.

"Ok." Bell sees the move and hovers his hand over the pieces, pondering over his moves before biting the bullet and grabbing a pawn and moving it forward two spaces. "You will not get much mimicking the movements of a better opponent."

Bell snorts. "Well, not like I can do much else. It's been a while."

"It must have been long, not many people play chess nowadays." Anton notes as he does a move, Bell's hand freezing as he processes the statement. His eyes being sapped of light as he smiles almost derisively.

"...Yeah. You...could say I was a bit lost. I still am." Bell admits, moving a piece as Anton does the same.

"Then, I hope you find what you're looking for. [Checkmate]."

"Damn it." Bell spotted his mistake too late, the bishop having a clear line for his [King].

"Good game, wanna try again?" Anton asks as Bell nods, the two returning the pieces to their original places.

Four days away from his test, he sighs as he looks at the first result of his first chess game in a while.

This is going to take a while.

It does. It took three days to beat Anton in chess, challenging AI and other players when Anton was busy, not to mention re-reading the [Art of War].

Admittedly, it's not as much about [learning] as it is about relaxing and grounding himself in something as monotonous as playing chess with an old man in silence. Occasionally changing things up to make it easier or harder.

Not to mention Anton's shock when he hummed out, "Two bros chilling in a hot tub-."

And he finished, "-five feet apart cause they're not gay."

Turns out, he's one of the few to get the jokes since during the Ark's [opening] only the moderately rich and above were basically guaranteed to come in, and they didn't understand the jokes much.

Regardless, he was told something interesting.

"You know of the [Goddess Squad]?" Anton asks as Bell blinks looking up from the board as he shakes his head.

"Nah, why?"

"They were a squad of Nikkes, the best, and they held the line when the Ark was getting sealed shut." He explained as Bell made his move. "They went missing afterwards but I'm not sure if that's true." He admits as he slumps back. "I don't know how many years I have left in me, but I'd like to thank them if I could before I go."

"That sounds like a death flag." Bell points out and Anton just chuckles.

"It's coming at some point, I don't think there's much harm in speeding it up a bit." Anton makes his move and Bell spots his opening to win for the first time.

Once he was back in his room later at night, he looks at his phone with the chat for Scarlet opens as he texts a question towards her.

[Hey Scarlet, so things happened, I broke my phone, and found myself in the hospital where I met a guy and at its core: You wouldn't happen to recognize the name 'Goddess Squad'?]

She didn't see it but it was enough for Bell, he has a test to complete tomorrow.

Bell has a certain dislike for tests. They just feel nonsensical to him and a waste of time.

Especially when you manage to understand the concepts before everyone else and it all just feels like you're being mocked.

Well, that's what the tests felt like. They were of moderate difficulty, mostly having to do with normal subjects along with a subject with tactics. Yet even with his own previous lacking understanding of strategies and tactics, they were mockingly easy.

Bell felt cheated. Like, very cheated, he felt so cheated that he almost called up [To Pimp a Butterfly] to turn the table into [butterflies].

There was also a revelation involving [Wesley's Theory], it doesn't just create white [butterflies] that can [upgrade] things, but it uses Bell's own body and muscle mass to do so. Now, in his mind, upgrading a car and a woman to a better state than normal probably would have taken more of his weight than just twenty pounds, but that's because the [butterflies] he used for Scarlet and his sweat were permanent while the ones he used for the cars weren't. [Butterflies] that aren't permanent return to Bell after a certain amount of damage or by his will.

Regardless, he walked out of the building, listless and looking at the sky. "Is-Is this world doomed?"

The questions were common sense to anyone with a brain. 'What do you do when a group of Raptures are in your path to your mission objective?' You evade them. 'What do you do when the Raptures are airborne?' After slight panic at the revelation that they can fly, he answered to have the sniper move to a different location at a higher vantage than the others.

Bell despises open-end tests because they leave him feeling uncertain. This was one of the few tests he's taken that's had him feeling like he aced it.

Regardless, he slumps onto a bench and looks to the [Dome of Eternity], tapping his fingers on the back rest as he releases a breath of air.

Bell comes to a conclusion. The [Commanders] are dumbasses made to be so. Yet...why?

As he glances at a fake sky in an underground city, he shivers at the theories that he thinks up.

Then, where the hell do [Stands] fit in this?

Bell's knowledge on [Nikke] is lacking but his knowledge of [Jojo's] is the same as the average viewer. Which equates to the ability to recognize any [Stand] he sees with a bit of thought.

[Stands] are manifestations of a person's fighting spirit, their [soul], so their abilities reflect not only their abilities and [Stand] but also the character of the [user]. Since the old lady told [Dio] that so long as he believes he can stop time he'll be able to do so. Not to mention things like the [arrow] and such. In essence, [Stands] are broken.

So how do they fit into everything?

Is it [coincidence] or is it [fate]?

What could have forced humanity this far?

The [rock people]?

The thought causes Bell to pause as he hums before shaking his head. To his knowledge, the [rock people] grew by entering a pseudo-hibernative state. So, in between the time the [Raptures] arrived and the time the [Ark] was opened a large number of them or maybe even all of them, must have died.

What is it? What, or who, could have done this? Who [would] have done this?

…

No…

It couldn't be…

It's unthinkable! The thought of [that] man being [here] in [this world].

That-That would answer more questions but open up even more…

No.

Bell leans forward, releasing a breath as he tries to keep his heart from beating out of his chest in fear.

Idly, he pulled down his white shirt, bringing his phone up and taking a picture of his left shoulder as he swallowed the spit in his mouth and looked at the picture.

He basically melted in relief, nearly becoming one with the bench as he audibly muttered, "Oh thank God."

The [birthmark] isn't there. Bell doesn't have the [birthmark]. Bell has no ties to the [Joestars] here.

It gave him a scare, to think that he'd be tied by fate itself to fight it out with a blonde british dude on the off chance this world is neither part of the original timeline or the rebooted timeline. He doesn't even have to worry, he's not even a [Joestar]!

Yeah, this is going to be alright.

But if that's the case…

Why has his heart been beating out of his chest?

…

It's probably just heartburn.

Or, at least he hopes so.

Bell is staring at his nails, knowledge filtering into his mind as he tries to think of a good color to paint his nails.

As an unassigned Commander he gets a certain stipend and benefits by generally appearing anywhere in his uniform, but he doesn't like it much admittedly. He's supposed to be assigned a [squad] tomorrow or in the afternoon depending on his scores, which he's not very confident concerning History but everything else is fine in his eyes.

Currently, his stipend has been sitting in his bank account for what is basically months if the memories are correct since the original Bell was fairly spartan with the exception of makeup. And even then that was mostly black, white, or blue when it came to lipstick and everything else when it came to nails.

Bell has no knowledge of makeup, whereas this Bell has enough knowledge to work as a makeup artist if he wanted to. Not to mention that the general extinction of humanity leaves a lot of people less bigoted than before now that they have a different target in the [Nikkes].

Still, that's a problem for later as he enters the store in [Royal Road] hearing the bell ring as he sees men and women milling about in the store as he stands out in his simple white shirt and jeans as he stares at the rows of color. He picks up one of them and goes to pay, a nice light blue that seems to connect with him and even [TPAB] seems to agree, subtly pointing to the marks on its side and legs.

Grabbing it and paying for it, Bell heads to the dorms, his stuff off to wherever he's going to live and leaving him with one stuffy change that he changes into. On the way back he was told his scores, they were some of the best they've seen, which is worrying in five different levels not to mention just generally, and they also told him his Nikke was ready.

They gave him a location to go too during the afternoon so he was currently cleaning up to meet his first Nikke and his probable guide going forward. He dries off his hair, lowering the towel to look into his heterochromatic eyes, brown staring into brown and green into green. With a push of his will, [TPAB] pops up, the purple humanoid [Stand] wearing kaleidoscopic glasses that hide his eyes, with a smooth head and a fit body with light blue butterflies trailing down the sides of his arm and torso before the butterflies appeared more liberally on his legs.

It was a very simple [Stand] but it was his and he quite enjoys looking at it. It is his [soul] given form.

Idly, [TPAB] turns to the clothes on a hanger as it reaches over and touches it. Turning into a mass of butterflies as they move towards Bell. They flutter around him before they meld with each other, turning into a set of clothes with a jacket, pants and gray button up with a white tie. He picks up the hat, frowning as he inwardly complained at how uncomfortable the clothes are before putting on the hat.

He stares at himself in the mirror and frowns further when he realizes he really doesn't like the look. But he shrugs, this is his uniform, complaining can only get him so far.

He steps in his shoes and heads towards the location outlined on his phone.

Walking besides an officer, explaining to him and basically recapping his responsibilities as a [Commander], Bell has to stop himself from tearing his own ears out just to stop hearing the other officer's boring drawl that was starting to hurt his eyes. How does that even happen?

Regardless of his thoughts, the short lecture has been useful in familiarizing himself with multiple things and shaking off the cobwebs in his mind. Especially since he gets the chance to look at the entirety of the [Ark] from high-up.

It...wasn't his favorite view by any stretch, but it was something.

Regardless, he follows the officer through the halls, idly looking around as he takes note of things.

"Wait here, Commander DeVoe." The man says as he walks out of a set of automatic doors as Bell simply stood there.

He decided to lean to the side as he waited, though he didn't have to wait long, the obvious steps of an individual and the quiet voice of the officer showing him around being enough to guess that it's probably the Nikke under his command.

Soon, the door opened and Bell pushed himself onto his own feet as he turns to look at his new squadmate going forward.

He falls into silence as she seems to do the same but with a quiet gasp, his eyes roaming up her buxom frame wearing what looks like a flight attendant's clothes but tighter as each curved was emphasized. Her skirt seemed really short with black stockings. Her gun hung from her shoulder as her brown eyes seemed to exude kindness.

"Commander DeVoe," the officer speaks from behind the Nikke, his voice shocking him out of his reverie as he actually begins to notice things about his Nikke, like the gradual reddening of cheeks as he begins to worry, "This is the [Nikke] that will be serving under you from here on out."

He extends a hand towards the drop-dead gorgeous woman with the ability to turn straight women gay. "Her name is [Marian]. As you can see she isn't some mass-production model. She will inform you more of her capabilities in the the coming days as the two of you sort your business out. Be sure to make the most out of her during your tenure as a Commander."

This seems to startle the girl, jumping with flushed cheeks before taking a deep breath. "Hello, Commander DeVoe, it's nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to working with you from here on out."

Looking around, he noted no other Nikkes which confused him a bit. Shouldn't Nikkes be in a [squad]? Even the mass-production models are in a squad. But when nothing happens, he simply sighs inwardly and gives Marian a smile while stepping forward and extending his hand. "I feel the same way, thanks for taking up this position with a newbie like me. Let's hope you can whip me into shape before being carted off to the frontlines. And just 'Bell' is fine. With how many people call me Commander I might just forget my own na-."

Before he could finish and as Marian's eyes widened with happiness at each word, the officer coughs into a fist. "It's hardly appropriate to undercut the boundarie-."

"Ahem! Not my problem. Ahem. Sorry, got something in my throat, were you saying something?" Bell says, ignoring the fact that he made no actual effort to even hide how fake his coughs sounded nor to really hide what he said as the man seemed to glare at him and he simply shrugged, Marian internally fretting.

In the end, all the officer said was, "No. It's your inevitable write-up, new guy." He turned, missing how Bell made an effort to flip him off only to be stopped by Marian. "Tell him anything else he needs to know, but don't forget your position, [Nikke]." He emphasizes the last word as if saying a slur before walking on.

The two fall into a silence as Bell scoffs. "'Your write-up' my ass! Why don't you ride up a di-." He stops himself from muttering a she turns to see Marian's worried expression as he sighs, "Whatever. Now that the fucker is gone…" He says, pausing as he looks up, "I...don't really have much to add. I'm Bell, new [Commander] and you're my [Nikke], right Marian?" He says, tilting his head towards the girl as he extends a hand. A hand that can take out tanks and crush others with a bit of effort. A hand that belongs to a young girl whose eyes brightened as she took it gently.

"R-right, I-I heard you have amnesia, Comm-I men Bell?" She asks with a tilt to her head as Bell just shrugs.

"Mostly, I...remember a few things but most of it is blurry." Bell admits. "Admittedly, I only know [Royal Road] and nothing else."

"That's good, but...do you know how the [Ark] works?" She asks as Bell sucks in his lips and looks away.

"Er...Not really? Admittedly, you might have to pull double-duty on that." Bell admits as he scratches the back of his head.

"I don't mind." She says, relaxing as her smile becomes more relaxed. "It's quite common for Commanders to need some assistance when it comes to life outside the [Academy]."

"I'm an adult." Bell quickly retorts, "I can take care of myself."

She quirks a brow, giving Bell a very pointed look as she turned to where the officer was previously standing before returning to Bell. "...I don't doubt that."

Bell seems almost offended as he looked to the side, pouting, "I don't always get in trouble."

She blinks before smiling, shaking her head, as if reminiscing about something before quietly saying, "Of course you don't."

The two fall into a comfortable silence as Bell pipes up. "Well...I guess since I'm now an actual [Commander] and we're now a [squad] of...two people," he says with clear sarcasm as Marian giggles, "we should go get something to eat, I'm getting kinda hungry myself."

"Sure!" She says with a smile as she follows after Bell while humming under her breath.

He simply holds back a growl as he loosens the noose around his neck and asks, "So, whatcha wanna get?"

She seems to hold a hand to her cheek and hums in thought. "I...I'm fine with whatever you choose Bell."

"Right, cheap is probably better." He says before muttering under his breath. "And far more likely to accept Nikkes."

This seems to surprise Marian as she reaches over to try to stop him, "It's fine, I can just-."

"Wait outside? Fuck no." Bell retorts, his eyes narrowing as his hands clenched into fists. "You're my Nikke and I'm your Commander. I...I can't fight like you girls can," [TPAB] is more support oriented than combat even if its speed and strength are second to none, "but I'll be damned if I'll let anyone give you more of a hard time than usual."

She has to push down the warm feeling in her heart as she reaches for his sleeve, stopping him as she spoke quietly. "Y-You can't, or else the [Central Government] will come after you. It's...it's against the law to sympathize with [Nikkes], and, Bell, you're a good person. I don't want to see you disappear." She says, her eyes a bit duller than they were a few minutes ago.

Bell doesn't answer, simply looking at her as he released air. "Fucking fascists. Can't do shit without feeling like the air's trying to strangle your dick."

"Huh?" She mutters as she sees Bell, just as resolved as before with a smile.

"Marian, if I cared, I would've asked." He says gently, his thumbs reaching into his belt loops at the front, leaning forward as he smiled. "I wasn't thinking of starting anything that can be traced back to me." He says with an angelic smile, Marian's face paling as she came to a realization.

He wasn't going to stop.

By the time she came back, Bell was cackling out loud, forcing her to catch up as her internal worries only seemed to increase.

Still, the regret she feels is far outweighed by this satisfied feeling in her chest.

The two sit in awkward silence, Marian glancing in worry at Bell who somehow managed to get a rock and is throwing it up into the air and catching it as he clicks his tongue. "Fucking Nikkephobes."

Turns out, the first place they stopped did accept Nikkes but a few of the people there didn't and were about to start something.

The two left before anything could happen but the feeling was still there as they sit in a fast food restaurant.

Mysteriously, anyone wearing a heel in the group found themselves unbalanced and falling while the belts of the men suddenly became loose.

Bell hides his smirk from Marian by taking a sip from the soda he ordered. "I...expected a far more drastic response." Marian notes as she shifts uncomfortably from Bell's eyes.

Bell just shrugs. "What were you expecting me to just start fighting?" he says with an amused tone as Marian suddenly has trouble looking him in the eye. "Well, I hate fighting." He admits as Marian suddenly give him an incredulous look. "What? I do."

"Forgive me, Bell, it's just…" She looks him up and down as he does the same, "What you said gave off the impression."

Bell just leans back, one arm hugging the back of the chair as he smirks. "Well, let that be a lesson." He says before sighing. "I'm not some genius who can suddenly change things with the right words to the right person. I'm just me. I can fight and am willing to, but it's one thing to defend and another to instigate. One of those is a lot harder to get in trouble for."

She seems to relax a bit, her smile becoming more genuine. "Your scores say otherwise."

Bell simply huffs, taking a sip from his soda while Marian just giggles. "Speaking of scores, what's the deal?" He asks, confusing Marian as he continues. "I mean what's the situation involving our squad? If you can even call us that." He mutters the last part. "We're two people and only one of us is a super-powered, super attractive, and super durable. 'S up with that?"

Marian simply turns to the side, almost ashamed as she can't come up with an answer. "I-I don't know Bell, it was sudden and not to mention our entire situation is abnormal." Marian admits as Bell blinks in obvious confusion. "Usually, Commanders switch squads per each mission so they rarely ever work with the same Nikkes twice, but I was told we'd be permanently put together."

"Personally, the first half sounds strange." Bell mutters under his breath before turning to her. "As much as I like having your company, I don't think a squad of two will work very well out in the surface." Bell says as he leans forward, holding a hand to his chin as the elbow rests on the table, his expression becoming complicated as he taps his foot against the floor. "We're supposed to be entering the [Simulator] tomorrow but considering it's a program there's a chance it might not be equivalent to the real thing. The only way we can be confident enough to have a chance is if we destroy it."

Marian watches as her commander mutters under his breath, his eyes serious and steely as if waiting for it all to go wrong, wandering everywhere as he simply stays quiet at some point and just quietly taps his foot on the floor.

She watches as he clicks his tongue, reaching up to his tie and takes it off as he sighs in relief. "Finally, I don't know how I'm going to survive if I have to constantly wear this."

"You don't." Marian pipes up, causing bell to freeze as he slowly turns to her. "Didn't you know? Commanders don't have a dress code and generally wear whatever they find comfortable."

Immediately, Bell smiles as he takes off the jacket, unbuttoning the top two buttons of the button-up shirt as he sighs in relief. "Thank god! That thing was dull and uncomfortable." An eye opens, roaming up and down Marian's figure as he leans forward. "Wanna join me in clothes shopping?"

"Really? Are you sure?" She asks as she looks away while muttering, "You might not be able to go to as many place with me along."

"I don't know much about [Royal Road] to begin with. Having you along would be a blessing." He says as she sighs.

"Well, all I know is where to get the clothes I'm wearing, if you'd rather get skirts and such." She teases as Bell rolls his eyes.

"And give people a reason to burn their eyes out? No thanks, you definitely look a lot better in them than I would." Bell says, causing Marian to blush as he tries to keep his own from rising.

"Thank you." She mutters as Bell nods.

"No problem." Soon, their food found their table as the two began to dig in.

Bell's plate was already large, he was around six feet and well built with an ability that uses that weight to help others. Marian does not. So it's a bit confusing for Bell to try and connect the large plate of food she has and her slim figure but doesn't comment. It is visually pleasing to see her eat with near impeccable manners.

Soon, the two were walking around [Royal Road], Bell spotting strange chairs with a weird contraption on them. "Hey Marian," he elbows her a bit as she turns, "what's with the chairs?"

Her eyes widen in realization as she begins to explain. "Those are chairs for [Nikkes] since any normal [Nikke] would break it under their weight."

Looking at Marian he hums, "You don't look that heavy."

She smiles gratefully as she continues, "We are, Nikkes were made to be as close as humanly possible so we can do a lot of what they can but take exponentially more damage." She explains as she spots a store. "We can check that one out!"

The name of the store was [Lucky Land], mannequins showing off different styles and accessories that each was as flashy as the last. There were also a few mannequins showing off simpler styles and far more cheap.

Bell looks at the name as Marian pulls him along as he comes to a realization.

Wasn't [Lucky Land] Araki's studio or something?

He lets the thought pass as he enters the store, coming face-to-face with an attendant. "Hello, how may we help you?"

Bell's eyes instinctively trail the path to the simplest set of jeans, shirts and shoes but as he's about to take a step forward Marian's grip on his arm tightens as she caught his plan. "Yes, actually." He sighs as the two begin to talk. The attendant was kind and understanding as she listened to Marian and occasionally asked for his opinion. Granted, it was generally ignored since he constantly attempted to shut it down and go for simpler clothing due to his pettiness but after the five minute mark he just gave up and simply told Marian not to go overboard.

He did get a set of jeans, shirts, sweaters, underwear along with a set of sneakers but his eyes constantly returned to pins on display. He reached up for the cap on his head as he looked at the symbol of the eagle. He frowned as he found himself in front of the pins.

"...Just a few."

He browsed through, looking at them as he inwardly worried how Marian is doing. He found a few that caught his interest as he reached for them.

One was a butterfly, a few stars, a heart, and other symbols and shapes he grabbed.

In the end, he was found by Marian, who looked a bit too excited for someone who simply bought normal clothes.

It wasn't, it was a jacket with a white material on the torso and gold accents on it but the sleeves were large, a blue pattern similar to what is under Marian's own jacket with. With it was a dark blue shirt and a baggy set of pants and sneakers.

As he stepped out of the changing room, the attendant smiled and nodded while Marian gave a very excited smile as Bell noticed the two were matching. "This...is pretty good. But… is there something a bit more dark? I'm not sure I want to stain this."

"Yes, the young lady said so, if you want you could commission something since you are a commander." She suggested as Bell tried to count the overall cost and came up with enough.

"I'll do it, but do you have a darker style?" He asks as she walks away.

"So, what do you think?" Marian asks, smiling as if this wasn't her plan from the start. Bell gave her a flat stare as he looked at it.

"It's fine, I guess." He says as Marian smiles brightly at the victory.

Soon, the attendant returns with a denim version instead of a white. After trying it on he finds it fine as the two head to the front to pay.

The commission and the clothes hurt. A lot. Not enough to make it desperate but enough for it to be noticeable.

Leaving in the clothes he changed into, the two continue to talk as Bell's cap now sported a butterfly in the middle with two small stars on each side above the eagle representing the [Central Government's] military. Though with the gold color of the butterfly and stars it stands out far more than the eagle. Another butterfly was pinned on his chest to the left while a heart was on the right with stars at the cuff.

It stood out, it fit him well, and he seemed comfortable in it. He ignored the looks he got and followed Marian to their new home.

A/N: So, I hope you guys have enjoyed this, I should really change the description later but for now it's staying.

Now, I'll admit that the Marian introduction scene I had a bit of trouble with and if you're on AO3 or Spacebattles you might recognize it as a similar event to Bakasmurf's own fanfiction, 'Only Human', which is way better than mine, but aside from that, fairly different. Aside from that, Review people, I need the reviews to keep me motivated.

Also, next chapter: more Stand users that will be a constant, usually.

That's it. So, Favorite, follow and review but above all, enjoy.