Morning - 3 days later

The morning sun blast through the windows of the university, and underneath those rays Theseus walked through the halls with his hands inside his outfit's pockets. He walked past some students who looked either normal, or just freaking depressed. They do not pay attention to the male like they would have normally done, nor brag about his badassery and his manliness. In fact, even though he hadn't even arrived at the classroom he could tell this would be a depressing time for the lot of them, both now and in the future.

Everwhere he looked, the whole university felt almost lifeless, dead even. There was no laughter, very little chatter or any signs of liveliness for the students. Though it may have been morning, every second felt darker than the night itself, like there had never been any sunrise in the first place.

The king of sharks knew the reason for this, which was why he couldn't really blame them nor did he pay too much attention to the lack of students compared to the average number he'd seen. He knew a good amount were likely absent from the University, either that or… were permanently unavailable.

He remembered what had happened when he'd first entered the university, as clear as crystal.

Flashback

After arriving at the uni grounds, Theseus had noticed a couple of students were sitting on some benches with Mio sitting beside them. Some looked gloomy, tired or looked like they lost the will to live which creeped Mio out considerably, and although Maria may not have been anywhere in sight Theseus bet that she would have noticed as well. She'd have been a blind idiot not to.

As for Mio, she scooted closer to Theseus with an uncertain look on her face. "Theseus." She muttered quietly, poking him on the shoulder.

"Hm?" the Shark King moved his pupils to Mio's close figure when she hugged his arm.

The redhead glanced over to the students, whispering the following question so that only the male could hear her. "Do you know what happened to them? They look so…lifeless." she shuddered at the look of their facial expression. "They're scaring me Theseus." She whispered to him while leaning her head on his shoulder.

Theseus gazed at her for a few minutes, taking in her demeanor before he glanced forward and closed his eyes. He'd already known what had likely happened to the students, having recognized their faces. They were likely some of the former kidnapped Night Lord victims who had luckily not been integrated into that damn 'Screaming Gallery' Issei had told Hellsing about. Their expressions right now still proved that such things still left a trauma on their minds, a trauma they likely didn't even remember the source from due to Hellsing erasing their memories of it to prevent a full psychological 'break'... something which would have happened in his opinion.

Nevertheless, Theseus also didn't want to make Mio more worried about the Night Lords since she already had enough on her plate with her various assassins and the one who ruined her normal life still being at large. "It's best….if you do not know Mio." he eventually responded, lips pursed into a thin line. Before she could respond, the blonde reached out after removing her arms from his own, and wrapped that same arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him so their legs touched as his hand rested on her shoulder. If one looked at it from a distance, one might consider it more of an embrace than anything. "If you were to know…you'll never sleep easy again."

Mio put her hand on his lap and glanced up at his face. From the looks of his face, it's hard to tell what his emotions were right now, but she could guess…it's not that pretty.

When she was about to try and prob further into the case, she stopped when Karasuma entered the nearby PE field. Though they hadn't been part of the class this morning, Theseus and Mio had supernatural hearing so they would be able to listen to what was going on.

The uni coach had his suit repaired and marched across the uni grounds, his posture mostly normal though Theseus' experienced eyes picked up signs of tension around him. Odds were, Karasuma still hadn't gotten over what he'd seen and Theseus didn't expect him to, not after only a day's worth of time and those revelations he went through likely didn't help.

Seeing the emotion and expression his students are feeling he has a tinge of sadness and rage in his heart. Gripping his fist hard before unclenching it. He once again faced the students before he sighs.

"(SIGH). Good morning class." He greeted them, as he expected there was no response from his greeting. He continued speaking. "I'm sure all of you…..are going through a hard time. Some of you I can tell do not have enough energy to participate in this course." he softly said to the rest of the students, a few of them lifted their heads, showing their lifeless look on their face.

Clenching his teeth, he kept his emotions in control. "Some of you have experienced the worst time or the worst day of your lives. If any of you are worried about attending or your grades for the semester…You do not have to worry about them." He announced it to the rest of the class. "As you know, the university is dealing with the crisis right now, with how the students are acting. The board of the directors and the principal himself decided to allow those who were mentally scared or had a trauma engraved…..to have some time off. it won't be counted as missing, tardiness or late work."

Mio widened her eyes when she heard what the coach had said to the rest of the class. She couldn't believe what he was saying. But the word trauma gained most of her attention. "A trauma?" she once again faced Theseus with a look of worry on her face. "Theseus what happened to them? How did they get trauma?"

Theseus did not reply to her as he paid attention to Karasuma's announcement. It seems he's gaining more of his respect for the former retired soldier. The coach also knew the truth but he cannot reveal it to the students because their mentality is already on the verge of breaking.

"If any of you want to leave, I will not stop you because I am not forcing you to continue participating in the course. I know most of you are graduating so you do not need to worry about it. I don't want to look cruel, sound heartless or don't care about your emotions. I care about the wellbeing of all the students here." Closing his eyes before did a 90 degree turn. Looking sideways. "Go home, spend some time with your family, relatives, your friends, your girl or boyfriend…You all need this." He said, surprising the students who all looked at Karasuma with shock and stunned faces.

Especially the redhead girl sitting in the far off distance and Theseus, who's respect for the retired soldier grew considerably.

"I cannot teach those who are looking miserable and are feeling depressed. It's useless to even try. They are going through so much right now, emotions are like a glass wall, easy to break and if the wall breaks, then that person will be at their breaking point. I cannot break that wall and I care for all the wellbeing of those who are in special needs." He faced the rest of the class once more with a soft expression. "Don't feel bad or feel like you're taking advantage. I understand if any of you are not here. Class dismissed." Karasuma said before leaving the PE field.

Flashback end

Since then after that day, the majority of the students had been absent. He couldn't, wouldn't and didn't blame them, really. It was like….back then.

He could still remember it and and right now Theseus swore to himself that the world took pleasure in literally forcing him to remember that terrible day. Putting his right hand on the side of his forehead, the male turned his head sideways and snarled for a while before he stopped. He couldn't let his instincts take over him, not when he's in public school.

As for the memory-erasing, he had a thought to get an outsider's opinion, ironically enough. He felt conflicted despite his earlier words to the uni coach those days ago, if the memory-erasing had really helped as much as head said it did. Therefore, he decided to get another opinion who he didn't often consider.

'Nephthys, are you there?' he telepathically called out to the goddess inside of his soul. Wondering if she's awake or still sleeping inside of his soul.

He got his reply after a few seconds. 'Yes Kaito, I'm here.'

'Ok, I was wondering if I can ask you your opinion.'

'What is it that you ask for Kaito?'

'What is your opinion about….this whole aftermath thing?' He asked Nephthys, referring to the result of the Night Lords kidnapping event. He knew for certain that the Egyptian goddess can read his memories considering she was inside of his soul. As much as he wanted to remove her soul from him, none of them (him, Meredith and other Hellsing members) can find a way to do so. Considering how she acts towards him, he could say he is one of those decent gods.

'...'

Hearing no reply from her, Theseus frowned but didn't say anything else. Considering how brutal and what the Night Lords had done could make even the evilest man look like a worthless penny, he didn't blame her. Nevertheless, after a while he decided to try and offer some support if she was struggling to deal with things 'If its too hard for you to describe it then its fine. You don't need to answer it.' Theseus telepathically assured her.

'Human minds are but a fickle thing. Something fragile that is easily broken." The Goddess answered after a while of silence. "We Gods do not interfere with human lives because their emotions are the main part of their society. If we ever change their emotions, what they feel, we're changing what they are, their very presence and their existence.'

'I see.' Theseus telepathically said to himself.

'Many gods from other Pantheon made a rule to not meddle or mess with human minds, practically forbidding us from doing so. But there have been some cases where a few Gods began using the humans as their play toys, messing with their minds and corrupting them. In the Greek pantheon, Hera most certain filled Hercules' mind with madness which caused him to murder his entire family.'

'Figures, is that why most Gods now isolate themselves and rarely interact with the human world?' Theseus scoffed, figuring that the Greek would always cause trouble even during the ancient era where Gods interacted with the humans.

'You don't need an answer to that. You already know Kaito.'

'I do, but….I wanna know what you think about all this mess. About the aftermath and if erasing their memories even helps.' Theseus once again asked the Goddess since from what he has been told she likely must be an expert with the memory subject.

'...I will not lie Kaito. There is a good reason why we cannot meddle with human emotions. The memories are also the very essence of their lives. Even if you were to remove it, you've seen what has happened. What those Night Lords did was unforgivable, but you and the others had no choice in the matter. It was either remove their memories or let them haunt those people till it caused a mental 'break'. I have seen such trauma's turn the bravest, most noble of souls into hollow shells, shadows of their former selves. It was for the greater good, erasing their memories.'

'Greater good huh.' Theseus repeated the last words on the Egyptian Goddess explanation. 'Sometimes, I wish I never heard those words. Many people say that to justify their actions… even when they don't end well.'

'Sometimes, people don't have a choice in the matter, Kaito. That's just how it is.'

'...' he went silent for a few minutes, pondering on her statement and just how true it was. He knew first hand, having seen a few examples with his own eyes, that there were times when one has to take action to mitigate an event's damage. They wouldn't have any other choice thanks to the position they were in, and this just proved to be no different. In the end, the male sighed in resignation, still not mentally at peace with his previous frustrations but he felt somewhat better than previously. '(SIGH) Thank you for your insight Nephthys. I'll remember this.' he mentally thanked the Goddess inside of him.

Internally, he sensed her nod to him within his soul's confines.

When he was about to continue walking through the class, he glanced to the side and saw a bulletin board that had some flyers attached to it. Curiosity got the better of him as the male recalled that there had been some pre-planned activities that the university offered for the students as a hobby. However, Theseus doubted that there would be many students currently looking for clubs at this time not only due to the time of year but also due to their current issues.

However, the way that he saw it with all the things he did, other than fishing and shark gazing, Theseus might as well get a hobby for himself.

Now that he had a plan for the day in mind, the male began to inspect some of the flyers. Some looked very interesting while a few that looked highly suspicious, but he guessed that was to be expected. Somehow there were a few gimmicks that attracted the student's attention but the blond hair boy could admit that the photography club seemed to be quite appealing if he were honest. That, and he had a suspicion that they might be causing trouble for most of the students here. A lot of them being female… one could get the idea from that alone.

As his gaze ran across the various flyers, his thoughts and that said gazed paused when the latter took notice of one specific flyer in particular which pulled a hum of thoughtfulness from his throat. He took the flyer off the bulletin board and reads the following.

The Tech and Mechanic club.

-We offer to those who are interested in building whatever you desire.

-Let your imagination wander about the world of technology, be like Steve Jobs or Alan Turning(The most famous scientist who invented the first computer)

-Students are welcome to become a member of the club.

-Location of the club is in ***building wing corridor.

"Hmmmmmm." Theseus hummed under his breath. He looked at the flyer while thinking of his options.

He had seen Walter's workshop many times, and not once was there a time when the work desk had been empty, which implied that the butler whenever not on duty immersed himself within his various projects. In essence, Theseus had wondered what it would be like to be able to actually build something instead of just maintaining and destroying like he had long since gotten accustomed to. He'd heard that it was much more of a challenge to build something than to destroy.

Kind of like relationships, one could spend years building a bond of trust only for it to be shattered nearly instantly.

Nevertheless, after having observed some of Walter's work whenever the butler allowed him to, he gained an interest in building stuff himself. It honestly looked to resemble working one's body and mind all the time, like focusing on what is it you want to build, keeping the mind sharp, and the physical requirements of the job can keep the body active and healthy. Same with Technicians, but with cables and wiring.

"Alright, I've made my mind." Theseus announced to seemingly nobody before he held onto the flyer and headed to the Tech and Mechanic club.

Later

"This should be it." Theseus said as he looks in front of the door were in front of it literally says the Tech and Mechanic club, for short TMC. He looks at the flyer and the door one more time. Debating on his option once more on whether it's a good idea or it might be a bad idea.

In front of him was a workshop building where he can see it as a separate building and the fact there is some drilling noises and screwing noises.

After a few minutes of debating his internal decision, he made up his mind as he put on a stoic expression and knocked on the door.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

Once he knocked on the door, he waited for a while for someone to come and open the door. It would be normal just to be rude to barge in and just say he wants to join the club. It would leave a bad impression on him and the club.

'Damn, Meredith's antics is rubbing off on me.' He mentally said to himself when Meredith's lesson was still engraved on his mind to be polite with the high-class people. He growled at the thought while crossing his arms.

He heard the door open, quickly removing the snarl on his face and uncrossing his arms. He looks at the student in front of him. The student in front of him seemed to be a bit dirty with black marks stretching across his face like whisker marks, the same with his hands and his uniform which had an additional worker's apron. He sported a light tan skin tone with a bandage on his lower right eye. He sported a mob of light blond hair similar to Theseus and blue eyes. In his hand, the one not holding the door open, looked to be a wrench.

…Part of the male actually wondered what it'd be like to wield one like a certain lombax did when fighting alongside his small robot companion.

Unaware of what Theseus was thinking, the boy in the apron gazed up and down his frame before he spoke in a polite tone. "Hi, how may I help you?" he questioned a polite smile on his face which seemed slightly unfitting for him.

Theseus in response brought up the flyer to the club member. "I'm here to join the club. You put up in your flyer." He answered to the club member.

Speaking of which the club member brightened his eyes at the sight and revelation. "You are?!" he excaimed in a surprised tone. He hadn't thought they would get any new members due to the whole atmosphere permeating throughout the University, so he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He smiled and turned to the other side of the room, making the following announcement. "Hey Fellows! We got a new club member!"

"Really?"

"That's great man!"

"What are you waiting for? Bring him inside!"

The boy turned around and faced Theseus with a bright smile on his face. "Thanks a lot, man, we really appreciate it with you joining our club."

"I take it there's a situation with the club right now is there?" Theseus asked the boy in front of him.

The club member nervously laughed as he put his hand behind his head while scratching it. "Hehehehe, yeah. You…could say that." Shaking his head, he still smiled before taking Theseus wrist. "Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of the gangs here."

Now normally shark boy would not allow someone to drag him about, but just this once he'll allow the club member to drag him since he looked to be excited to see another potential club member. Whatever had been the situation with their club had to have been one weighing on him if Theseus were to guess.

They entered the room, which looked to resemble a workshop from what Theseus could see, a sense of familiarity hitting him when he viewed his surroundings which seemed remarkably similar to Walter's back in the London Hellsing Manor. Across the room, he can see various tools, workbenches, and what looked like a car frame atop some kind of stand on one of the workbenches at the workshop's opposite end which one of the club members looked to have been working on.

Off to the side, one could see various shelves containing many boxes neatly stacked in place, making maximum use of the space provided. Each box looked to be stacked with some building materials and tools, with some extras hanging from some hooks on these shelves' frames. On the other side of the workshop were two members tinkering around with computers and gadgets.

The club member that dragged Theseus let go of his wrist and introduced himself. "My name is Kurika Tushashi. Second year university student. And the people around me, the one who is fixing the car name is Jason."

"Sup man."

"The two who are organizing the tool compartments are twins, Akihiko and Akina."

""Welcome to our club! It's a pleasure meeting you.""

"The other two who are tinkering around the computer parts is my girlfriend Akari and the other is my cousin Yoku."

Theseus nodded his head towards each of them in a greeting, prompting various different ones from the other members. Although an amusing observation was made when he noticed just how similar the two twins looked. 'Don't see that everyday.' He mentally noted with amusement. Taking the quick opportunity presented to him, Theseus cast his gaze around the workshop, taking in everything he could before making a comment about it. "Nice place you got here. Seems to be organized quite well, gotta say I'm impressed."

Upon hearing his praise, each of the members gave proud grins/smiles, with some of the guys fist bumping one another. "Thanks for the comment man. It wasn't easy, it took lots of hard work and guts to earn this place. It took us three years from since highschool until we finally got here." Kurika explained, a proud smile on his lips while he cast a fond gaze towards the Workshop with almost parental affection. One could see how much he prided himself on this place.

"Hardworkers, eh…? Theseus nods his head in approval of such a mindset. That explained a lot to him actually, for when he had entered the male had noticed a general lack of depression about this place. None of the members looked to shaken or disturbed, which of course didn't mean that they were not affected by the news they had likely heard through the grapevine, one would have been a blind/deaf moron not to know at this point. As such, he had to conclude that these people had somewhat of a positive outlook on things somehow, which while naive in one sense it actually showed a possible resilience to adversity, something that Kurika's story seemed to support.

If there was one thing Theseus appreciated, it would be one's ability to push through hardship to emerge stronger for it.

"I think I can get along with the rest of you very well." Theseus remarked to himself, although the rest of the club members heard it.

"Before we get you started I want to ask you one question." Kurika said to Theseus. "What made you come to our club? Is there a specific reason why you decided to come here? I mean look at you!" He gestures at his toned muscle which attracted the twins attention as they stared at his rock hard muscle. "I mean no offense but you more look like a body builder than a mechanic."

"None taken." Theseus waves his hand to Kurika, not offended in the slightest since he could read his body language. Nothing there suggested any malicious intent, hence his nonchalant response. The blond hair thinks for a while before he came up with the answer. "Well, to be honest I've seen multiple people making stuff, stuff in which they say it was hard to think and build. I heard that mechanics and technicians are challenging. I like a challenge. So I though to myself why not I give it a try? And here I am." Theseus explained his reason to Kurika.

The tanned boy puts in a grin. "Well, you come into the right place. If it's a challenge you're seeking then you've come to the right place! Let's see how much you can prove your worth."

Theseus grinned back at him, Kurika could've sworn he saw a red pale figure behind Theseus, mimicking his actions. "I hope it doesn't disappoint me then." He said to Kurika.

Shuddering a bit before shaking his head, Kurika decided to try and get things going again since standing around wouldn't be very productive. "Come on, I'll show you where you can get started." he declared, Theseus following the lad towards one of the work benches with a gleam in his eye. A gleam which promised excitement for the task ahead, as well as what may be born from it.

He honestly couldn't wait.

Later - Nurse's office

"Honestly Kaito, I don't know what's going on in that reckless head of yours. What were you honestly thinking?" a very exasperated Chisato spoke in an unamused tone, her eyes slightly narrowed towards Theseus as she wrapped bandages around his right hand.

The blond hair boy at least had the decency to show a bit of an embarrassed expression on his face, the young adult rubbing the back of his head with his other hand (which had already been bandaged) under his pseudo-aunt's stern, disappointed glare. This wasn't something he'd normally do when being glared at like this, usually he'd have ripped them into tiny pieces like he'd tried to do with Hijikata (which reminded him, he would have to take the chance to apologize to him for the asshole behavior he displayed. He didn't feel very guilty about it due to it happening when he'd been under duress, but he did feel a little shame for allowing things to get that bad in the first place).

But his aunt Chisato? Yeah, she'd be one of the few exceptions to this.

"To be honest, it wasn't my fault to begin with Chisato." Theseus tried to retort back to the school nurse in an effort to defend himself.

However, the school Nurse wasn't having it. She crossed her arms under her chest and lifted one nylon stocking-clad leg over the other, wiggling her heeled shoe in agitation. "Mind I remind you of what happened previously?" Chisato declared a counterattack towards his defense.

One which made him cringe internally, especially at the memories it invoked within him. "Uhhhhh."

"Just a few screws around the car engine aaaaannnnd it'll be good. Man is this tiring or what."

"Huh? Wait Theseus! Don't touch that! The car engine is still hot! Be careful!"

TIIIIISSSSSSSSS!

"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The memory replayed itself in his mind like a recording on a record, showing how he had found himself here in the first place. All the while displaying the reason why Chisato was wrapping bandages around his burnt hand. Back at the engineering club room, Theseus had had the right idea to touch the car engine while it had apparently been still hot just before it could cool down. What was the worst part was that he hadn't even thought to use his sacred gear as protection, further displaying his ineptitude towards this stuff.

Even so, he still tried to hurriedly defend himself with a slight fluster on his cheeks. All the while Theseus looked to the side, refusing to meet his aunt's gaze since if he tried to do so, his cheeks got hotter without his permission. "Alright to be fair it was my fault in the first place…" he began, still feeling the intensity behind the older woman's glare. "But that doesn't mean you can just aim the fact at me aunt Chisato. I know what I did was dumb, stupid and irresponsible but do you have to say it to my face?"

Chisato didn't take any of this however, karate chopping the top of the male's forehead electing a yelp from him. "Don't try and play coy with me, Kaito. You're the same as your father when he took you on a boat ride and he recklessly left you alone while a shark was close to you. It was only a miracle it had some attachment to you." She stated, her tone still scolding but mixed with a little bit of nostalgia at the memories she dug up. She remembered how FURIOUS his mother had been when she had found out about this incident, his father getting punished by… being the victim of some sxm role play for several days straight.

They may have been perverts, but even they had some standards.

Theseus shook his head while sighing, he just couldn't win with this woman. It probably didn't help that what Chisato had said to him was technically true, either, much to his embarassment. As for what she had been referring to, when he was younger his father had once taken him on a boat ride for some father-son bonding time, something that didn't happen often due to his job. Apparently, after a while his father had the bright idea to swim around the ocean while leaving him on the boat…

ALONE.

Kaito(Theseus) had been gazing upon the ocean while seeing some fish swim away. It amazed him before he saw a BIG fish with its fin sticking out of the water. It excited Kaito in his childhood excitement, and when it had approached him he had given the newly-revealed 'shark' (he had learned this when the creature had surfaced before him) some dead fish for it to eat. Though, what he had not expected to happen was what had followed, for once it ate the fish the shark had jumped out from the ocean and landed on the boat.

Normally, that would have scared the living shit out of anyone with more than a few braincells, especially with how Sharks were depicted in media. Such as Jaws which involved a Shark developing a taste for flesh and becoming a maneater, just like the Alligators in Austrailia. Then there was the more recent film called Megalodon which involved a titanic-sized Shark terrorizing human scientists.

However, back then Kaito couldn't have been described as 'ordinary'.

Back then, Kaito had actually been swept with a wave of fearlessness mixed with some excitement, these emotions being the reason why he got close to the shark and petted its snout. It was from this moment his father had returned and witnessed his son petting a shark on its snout, becoming scared shitless by the sight. Immediately acting upon his parental instincts, he had went and quickly swam towards the boat before igniting the engine, making the shark fall from the boat. Kaito sadly waved at the shark, saying goodbye to it which it almost responded the same by waving its fin at him.

After that, the rest was history.

"Yeah yeah I know what my father did, but to be honest IF I wasn't left alone then I wouldn't have had the opportunity that I did. If that hadn't happened, then I wouldn't have met that shark which became my best friend and my first pet." Saying this brought a matter to his attention, prompting him to put on a thinking face as he looked up to the ceiling above. "Now that I think about it, I need to get back to Hellsing and see how's he doing without me." Theseus mused before looking at the side and muttered under his breath, worrying about his pet shark.

Yet at the mention of his pets, Chisato's frown only grew alongside the worry in her chest. "It is not a healthy thing for you to keep sharks Kaito. Their dangerous creatures of the sea and you keeping them in a cage is not going to help them."

However, this did not go down well nor did it invoke the same reaction as before. In act, like a switch being flipped Theseus glared right back at the older woman. "Chisato." Theseus called out to the nurse name. "I'm dangerous as well. Don't forget that." He stated firmly, maching the woman's previous tone from before in some form of twisted role reversal.

Role reversal which got completed when the woman briefly tensed at the mention of his 'monster' self, before looking to the side and refusing to meet his gaze. "...I know, but still…" Chisato whispered in worry, still holding on to his right hand. Lowering her head, the woman took a moment to compose herself before she spoke in a soft tone. "I don't want to see you get hurt. I'm worried about you Theseus."

Theseus was silent for a few minutes at this, a brief surge of warmth spreading through his chest and his usually cold, dead heart. Despite a mess of emotions that flowed through him at that admission which rendered him silent, he couldn't help but understand it from her point of view. Looking at things from her perspective, one could understand that it had only been a few months since their reunion, of which beforehand Chisato had thought he'd been killed back during the Apocalypse like practically every one of her close friends on that island. The thought that one day he would slip away from her was a very real one, and that must scare her immensely. "I know you are aunt Chisato, but I can handle myself. Don't worry." he assured Chisato, gripping the hand holding his own with his free hand. He gave it a slight squeeze before reaching upwards with one hand and cupping the woman's left cheek, stroking it affectionately with his thumb.

Briefly the woman widened her eyes in shock and surprise at this gesture, almost burning the sensation's memory into her mind as she looked into his usually cold, dead-looking eyes for a while. Yet right now, they looked to be the complete opposite sporting a sun's level of warmth with a small, matching smile on his lips that spoke more than words ever could. It served to remind the woman that deep down, despite the monster her adoptive Nephew had claimed to have become, there was still a warmth to him that was reserved for those he trusted. Her being one of them… a revelation which brought a warm smile onto the Nurse's face.

However, this smile vanished when she noticed something on Theseus' facial features. As a nurse, she could read the signs on a patient's face enough to tell that something had been happening to Theseus…or rather, something HAD happened. "You seemed to be quite stressed before. Is there something happening to you back at the Hellsing Organization?" she asked him, worry seeping back into her tone as a result.

Internally widening his eyes when Chisato asked him about what had been stressing him a lot, Theseus nearly went into full-blown panic mode. He quickly made an excuse in order to assure Chisato nothing was wrong. "Its nothing, its just work has been increasing in the organization. We had some problems with the fallen angels but they were dealt with. They won't be a problem for sometime." Theseus partially lied to Chisato while making sure it doesn't sound like made up.

Chisato stared at her adoptive nephew for a while before she got up and spoke the following. "Sounds like not much has changed. You're just like your father Kaito, behind your proclamation it hides so much of the pressure you're dealing with." She remarked, once more noting how Kaito was again displaying similarities to his father. The way he was acting resembled that man whenever he got stressed out over work whenever he was away from his family. He usually did stuff like this to avoid worrying his beloved wife or child.

"Aunt, that is not true. I'm fine it's just things have been getting out of control. No need to worry about it I can handle it." Theseus assured Chisato.

The school nurse looked to the side, towards some flowers held within a jar on her desk. Gazing at it for a while, she spoke. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Theseus. I know you said you were a student of the king of vampires. But even with your powers, there might be a problem in the future that even you can't handle alone. If you're facing a situation you can't get out of, you need to make a plan on how to deal with it. That will be how you can protect the things important to you, you and your friends… or companions of Hellsing." Chisato turned around and glanced at Theseus, sporting her previous serious expression. "Don't forget about it, Theseus."

Looking at her for a short moment, Theseus nodded towards her before getting up from his seat after glancing at the nearby clock above the entrance. "I will, and I appreciate your help with this Chisato. I'll be sure to remember it." Theseus said to his aunt before glancing at his burnt hand. "And as for my wound, I think our doctor can get rid of this in an instant so I don't have a burned hand for long. I need these fingers after all." Theseus remarked, thinking about how important his fingers actually were for his daily Hellsing duties, before heading to the door.

Unbeknownst to the male, Chisato's eyes glinted with interest at the mention of a 'doctor' at Hellsing. Formulating a plan she spoke to Theseus. "A doctor you say? May I ask if he is interested in hiring a nurse?" She asked the blond haired man.

Theseus puts his hand on his chin in a thinking pose, he thinks for a while before he comes up with the following. "I'm not so sure about that, Chisato, not that I know if he's planning on hiring nurses or not. Never really asked him about it, given how Hellsing life had been hectic recently. But if he does then I'll recommend him to you." Theseus answered the school nurse.

"Thank you Kaito, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

When the pale boy was about to leave, he puaused mid step when he heard Chisato speak once more. "And before you leave." Turning around, Theseus did a 180 degree, facing Chisato once more to see her gazing at him fondly with a matching smile on her lips. Her hands placed themselves on top of one another over her lap. "Be sure to remember to spend some time with me. I'll be happy to spend some quality time with you." she told him, her warm smile reminding the blonde male so much of his mother.

Perhaps that could also be said of the warm flame that ignited within his chest.

"...I'll think about it." With that said, Theseus left the Nurse to her duties to head home.

Back in Hellsing

Returning back home after spending the day at the University felt… much different compared to the last few weeks. Perhaps that was due to the taking down that Hijikata had given him and Meredith, but for now he didn't feel as conflicted about coming here as he did before.

After opening the door and stepping inside, Theseus made the following callout while placing his footwear next to a bunch of others. "I'm home!" he yelled, eyeing the various footwear and noting that they had a nearly-full house right now. That meant that Vali, Kuroh, Issei, Maria, Mio, Meredith and Michael were currently inside the building, a rather rare occurrence to be sure especially given the massive incident that the Night Lords had caused. As for Kuroka, he wasn't worried about her right now since at this time she usually just prowled around the city in her cat form.

What was with this City that caused beings to think they could just rampage here as they pleased? Was it the Devil's luck or something?

Apparently his call had reached them, because not long afterwards Mio poked her head out in the distance and noticed his form by the entrance. The moment that she did so, a bright smile formed on her lips whilst her eyes glistened in joy. "Welcome back, Theseus!" she proclaimed, jogging up to him.

"Huh… looks like you just arrived before me." Theseus remarked with a slight smirk on his lips, one hand in his trench coat's pocket. The reason why the male had said this was due to noting that Mio hadn't changed out of her uni clothes yet, which ironically reflected a standard highschool uniform: the sailor getup with the black collar and cuffs, black skirt and matching thigh-highs alongside the crimson ribbons around those thighs.

Apparently the reason behind this outfit choice for their uni uniforms was because Mio had wanted to be closer to a normal uni student, and the lack of a dress code meant she could do just that.

"Ehehe, yeah I got my work done early so the teacher let me off for today. He seemed rather stressed too, so I hope that he's doing alright with his workload…" Mio remarked, a brief flash oc concern on her face. Not long after this did she look down at his hands and notice their bandaged state. Immediately her eyes widened in alarm, and her worry found itself a new target. "Eh?! What the heck-why are your hands like that? Did you get into a fight or something?" the redhead questioned rapidly as she grasped those hands and fawned over them like a mother hen. She probably didn't realize that she had grabbed them in a way that made it look like she were being affectionate instead of worried for his health.

However, a certain Succubus wasn't that oblivious.

"Oho, how forward we are being today, Mio Chan…" Maria's voice echoed throughout the entrance as the said girl stepped out from behind the same spot that the female redhead had once occupied. She had the grin on her lips that signified a lot of lewd thoughts were circulating around that putrid brain of hers. "Handholding, how lewd. Ehehehehehehe!"

BONK!

"Yeowch!"

"Quit being a creep, Succubus." Theseus drawled in annoyance, his fist lightly steaming after having bonked Maria's head like that meme involving the dog and its baseball bat. 'Seriously, what has she been looking at online to get the impression that hand holding is a sin? Honestly these memes just don't make sense to a boomer like me…' The male thought with mild irritation, having already thought of what had given Maria this insane idea.

Though his annoyance alleviated itself slightly when the following happened.

"Best not to tread down that road, Theseus man." Looking again towards the distance ahead of him but this time towards the doorway to the living room, Theseus noticed Vali and Kuroh emerge into the walkway. The duo looked to have just come back from their patrols due to the fact that they still had their weapons (Kuroh with his Katana and Vali with his currently furled Sacred Gear) out. It had been Kuroh who had spoken, and he looked just as tired of the Succubus' antics as the blonde male looked annoyed. "That's just asking for trouble."

Theseus rolled his eyes, but nonetheless didn't contest his bro's claims since he believed them to be right. After all, from the attempts she had made to sneak porn mags into his and Mio's rooms to try and 'excite' them, to the times when he caught her trying to record videos of them in the nude, Maria may as well have the description of a sex offender with how she let those perverted tendencies of hers get out of control. It was only due to their knowledge of her Succubus nature that they had tolerated her bullshit… though they reserved the right to give her a hard time if she went too far.

A right which usually got enforced by Mio however, a right which she was doing right now in the form of grabbing Maria and stretching her cheeks like a certain rubber man with an irked expression on her face.

"Well, guess your patrols went smoothly." The male noted, seeing a lack of disheveled clothing to imply that there had been any battles on the whole males' persons. It honestly surprised him that they hadn't, he'd figured they'd be neck-deep in stuff thanks to the Night Lords. Speaking of which… "So, you didn't get any grief from Night Lord stragglers? What, did they run from you like the cowards that they are?"

Vali huffed and crossed his arms, looking to the side in mild irritation. "Those wimps? Pft, please one look at me and those that we DID encounter just simply ran off like little headless chickens. Apparently those fools can only be efficient when they have all the cards on their side, and that leader of theirs." he replied, causing both Kuroh and Theseus to frown.

The fact that they had encountered Night Lord stragglers during their patrols was one thing, a thing which Theseus bet Meredith (he suppressed the urge to cringe at the mention of her) would want to know, but the apparent report of them not being the same as they had been back at the abandoned church ruined some of their image in his mind. From what he'd heard beforehand they sounded like some of the Demons that he'd heard of in those corrupt portions of the world…

Portions he yearned to step into and cleanse them of their filth.

In any case, Theseus made to ask Mio something when he noticed Meredith and Issei approaching them all. "Leader." he greeted blankly.

Meredith nodded her head in acknowledgement of his greeting. "Theseus."

For a moment, the two had an awkward exchange between them and got lost in their own little world of tension, no longer aware that they had observers in the form of their comrades.

Fortunately, this didn't last very long since Theseus returned to reality after blinking a few times, and then noticed something that drew his attention. "There seems to be an absence of a blonde Nun here." he noted, glancing at the shoepile and noting the lack of footwear that the said holy person usually equipped was not among them. Briefly his big brother instincts flared as he glared towards Meredith with an accusing gaze. "Where is she?"

In any other circumstance Meredith would have likely admonished him for this behavior, but the woman remembered Hijikata's words and pulled those urges back for the time being. Things between them may not be as hostile as before, but that didn't mean she shouldn't be cautious of treading on eggshells around the male. "Asia's been taken by the Exorcists to their base, for training in how to utilize her new powers. They're the ones with the experience here, and judging from the brief visit I paid to their base to assess it's defenses, I can say she's much safer there than she is here." she explained.

"I see." Theseus said to Meredith, nodding his head in understanding after a moment of pondering her reasoning. Considering that Asia was an important figure to the Christain faction now, more so than she had ever been before, she had to train her powers in order to protect herself and the people she cares about. Not only that but if she didn't then she could risk causing unintentional collateral damage. However, none of them had that experience the Exorcists did, and compared to the Night Lords he trusted these guys slightly more… though he'd ideally liked to have had Asia trained by one of their own.

Still, he'd not be complaining.

Meanwhile, Issei could be seen glaring at Theseus from his spot off to the side, his gaze lingering over the blonde male who was surrounded by the girls(Mio, Maria, and Meredith). Unable to contain those thoughts to himself he made the following comment. "You know it's not fair, you get to hog all those hot ladies around you. I mean do girls like bad boys like you?" Issei whined as he got Theseus and his bro's attention. He remembered a crazy hot beautiful cat girl named Kuroka(Who had the most humongous oppai he had ever seen!) and how Vali treated her whenever he was with her. It seemed like he was trying to get her away from him, but also treating her right at the same time which only egged the blackette catwoman on.

Theseus narrowed his eyes aimed at Issei. "Oi oi oi. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not even attracted to any of these girls around me. I'm not a womanizer or any of those fuckers who try to get into their pants." Theseus defended his action from Issei's sudden declaration.

Maria had a mischievous and teasing smile on her face. "Oh really? Not a womanizer?" She playfully said to Theseus that he shifted his attention to Maria. "Then can you explain why you allow Mio to regularly sleep alongside you almost every night? Hmmmm? Can you try and explain that?" she cooed, drawing every word out like some kind of slur while wiggling her brows and grinning when she felt the jealousy emitting from Issei sharply increase.

"Girl, your testing my patience here." Theseus snarled at Maria, sharpening his teeth while allowing his BOE Form's tail to sprout and curve so its tip hovered over his shoulder. "Do you want to be the first subject of one of my abilities? I call it 'Puppet Master' and guess what it does?" He smiled in bloodlust which Maria paled at when he said puppet master. "I can control their movements, their aim and their trigger fingers as if they were marionettes." wiggling his fingers, Theseus's tail shuddered as if he were actively holding it back from lunging towards her to make her its first victim. "Care to be one of my test subjects?"

"Now now, calm down Theseus. You're terrifying the young lady there." From the hallway came the last member of their group to show themselves: Michel, the same Doctor that the blonde male had previously talked with Chisato about. As he entered the hallway, he glanced towards the red dragon emperor as he said the following. "Though I will say that his words carry more truth to them than you may think. There is more to Theseus than his demeanor suggests, something you haven't realized if you're calling him a bad boy."

Issei and Theseus look at the doctor with confusion. The former didn't understand what the doctor meant by Theseus' hidden demeanor whereas the latter didn't get what kind of angle Michel was playing at.

Speaking of the latter, the blond-haired boy made to question him had it not been for two things that had happened. One was the feeling of nervousness that suddenly overcame him, although the Shark King couldn't figure out the source of. For some reason, he got the impression that Michel knew something he didn't, judging from the way he looked at him through that headpiece of his… which only made the feeling worse.

The second was how Michel brought his hand forward and conjured a magic circle in the middle of the hallway, allowing everyone to see it.

The magic circle Michel conjured then turned out to have similar functions to a film projector. This one in particular started projecting out a series of images like said old-fashioned projector. "I planted a hidden magic circle mostly for security purposes, of which I received Meredith's approval. However, it also turned out it can record the EVENT that will show you more about Hellsing's trump card number 2." Michel explained to everyone in the room.

Theseus widened his eyes in shock and horror when the video began to play, a wave of dread being added when he realized EXACTLY what this projector-like magic circle was going to show to the world. "Oh God..." He whispered in a barely audible volume while the image from there showed Theseus strolling along a corridor mumbling to himself. It looked like it was happening in the middle of the night due to the brief glimpse of the night sky they all saw.

Things started to change when he heard whimpers from nearby, and upon tracking down the source by silently moving along the hallways he came to a certain door… one that led to Maria's bedroom. He also seemed to crunch his face together, the sight indicating that he had sensed something foul nearby as he reached for the doorknob and turned it.

Maria widened her eyes to see Theseus literally entering her room. Part of her felt goddamn elated by this though since it implied the male had the urges just like any young man stuffed with hormones. While she didn't expect him to be a lolicon, this did serve to assure some of her fears regarding his sexuality. "Hey, that's my room! What's he doing there?" Maria questioned Michel as he stood silent. Mio looked downright shocked to see this and gave the blonde male a glare, although the doctor glanced at her with the unspoken demand to not judge him just yet, prompting her to cease that action… for now.

The recording thus continued, showing Theseus entering the room and seeing the succubus concealed within her bed's blankets… However, the thing that shocked this version of him (as well as every onlooker) was that the Succubus looked to be in severe discomfort, constantly moving about on her bed like she was trying to fight something off. She also seemed to be mumbling something under her breath but the footage didn't showcase that part very well, although whatever WAS said had been enough to shock Theseus (in the recording) back into reality.

What happened next sent EVERYONE'S minds to a screeching halt, especially the perverted Succubus'.

Moments later, the recording of Theseus shot to the bedside faster than one could blink, a look of urgent determination blazing in his eyes which usually only arose when he needed to do something EXTREMELY quickly. Kneeling by her bedside, Theseus threw the covers off the Succubus (exposing her spotty pink pajamas), before wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the bed in a makeshift princess carry. He then stepped towards a nearby wall and sat down with his back leaning against it, adjusting the Succubus so that she sat on his lap with her head buried in his chest. He used his Coat like a makeshift blanket to cover them both, and while holding her within his arms… the recording of Theseus began to gently rock her back and forth while whispering inaudible words of comfort into Maria's ear.

Whatever he whispered seemed to work in slowly calming her down, as soon enough Maria's sleeping form settled into a comfortable one with a small smile on her face. Yet, that was NOTHING compared to the warm, downright GENTLE expression the blonde male had on at seeing his efforts not going to waste. He held her tight against him, gently caressing her eyes with his thumbs to wipe her leftover tears away, before touching her cheek with his own. His gentle nudging resembled a cat almost, and it served only to widen the smile on the succubus's face.

Eventually, weariness caught up with the male and he fell asleep along with her IN THAT SAME POSITION.

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Total silence filled the hallway. Literally, there was no word uttered by the residents within as the projection vanished alongside the magic circle, everyone still in stunned disbelief over what they had just witnessed. No words could properly describe how they felt about watching Theseus's downright OOC actions.

Slowly, Vali's mouth became a thin smile before it turned into a full blown grin on his face, one not too unbefitting for a prankster Gremlin… before he finally exploded in uproarious laughter. "Pfft hahahahahahahaha! Wow, it's just wow!" he exclaimed, laughing so hard he fell down and rolled around in amusement. "It looks like the big bad monster has a heart after all! Look who's caring for a member of a lustful race like a house husband! Bwahahahahahahah!"

His laughter caused several tick marks to form on a certain blonde's forehead, his face rapidly reddening from both the humiliation and embarrassment of being caught doing shit like this. Theseus then snarled when he heard Vali's unrestrained teasing remarks, his fang sharpening while his body steamed. "Shut up!"

"Look who's talking already! Come on, you don't have to be embarrassed, just show us your big heart and how much you love us!"

"I said shut the fuck up!"

Kuroh put a hand on his chest as if he's displaying some proper manners… but in reality he joined in the teasing with a massive uncharacteristic smile. "Oh my, someone must be afraid of showing their true feelings, you little tsundere you. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, I should not get into the manner however, I can't help but to feel so much shock and disappointment, that you Alucard's apprentice, student of the night is too afraid to show us your real feelings when you only showed them when alone with the missus."

"I SAID BE QUIET OR ELSE I'LL TURN ALL OF YOU INTO STEW!"

At this point, the completely red Theseus looked ready to launch himself at them for the smoke, to demonstrate why he was a contender for being Alucard's successor.

Off to the side while the boys began to engage in their usual fisticuffs, the girls had their own little reactions to the recording. Mio looked downright shocked and could be seen blushing crimson, with a bit of jealousy radiating in her eyes. In part of her mind she felt…more than a little jealous that Maria had close contact with Theseus, wishing internally that she had been in that position instead. After having been repeatedly exposed to being hugged by the male, Mio found that it was a lovely place to be in as well as one of her favorite places. But from the video she watched it wasn't Maria's fault because it seemed that she had been having night terrors, the same as she did. Part of her still felt surprised that her companion had them since usually she didn't seem too affected by their daily lives on the run… this had been an eye-opener for her in more ways than one.

Meredith furrowed her brows as she held a hand in front of her mouth, eyes twinkling with all sorts of different emotions crossing over her face, before settling on stunned befuddlement. She actually looked just as stunned as Mio did, but for several different reasons. For as long as she had known him, Meredith had NEVER seen Theseus with such a gentle expression on his face, let alone towards a member of the opposite sex. What made her blush a little was how it actually looked like an expression reserved for a married husband when in the arms of his wife. Again, she had never known Theseus could make such a gentle expression, the fact that it had been made for Maria a Succubus whom he usually got irked by said person's antics, made it all the more disbelieving.

Though, the biggest reaction came from the recipient from Theseus's actions.

Maria just looked, well shocked, she looked just PURELY shocked to the point where she doesn't know how to react. No words came out of her mouth nor did she even form a sentence from the revelation of what had happened. The Succubus just sat there with her eyes wide open and her hands shaking by her sides. The girl remained uncharacteristically rendered silent

Michel noticed this and walked up to her yet when he'd gotten within arm's reach he noticed how the Succubus didn't even react to his presence let alone acknowledge him. Something that unsettles the doctor. "Are you alright Maria?" he asked the succubus.

Maria was silent for a while, not answering his question before she slowly opened her mouth and managed to form a sentence. "I'm…..fine, doctor….just…..fine." she slowly responded to the doctor.

Looking down at the silver haired girl, the man's expression remained hidden by his doctor's mask but judging from the tone he used in the following sentence one can guess he would be frowning right now. "Are you sure Maria? Because I did not expect it to be this shocking for you to handle." Nostradamus the third questioned, his tone conveying the professional concern he had for her.

"I'm alright doc, it's just….." she tried to find a reason but couldn't come up with anything. There was only one thing in mind she had on her mind right now. She got up and said the following. "I need to go to my room." she said before quickly walking away from the whole group who had their attention on Theseus(Who was now in a dustball, brawling against the guffawing Vali and Kuroh).

Michel gazed at her retreating figure before he whispered the following. "The future may seem set in stone Maria, but that does not mean it has to be. You can still stray from the path you are taking, delay the inevitable or else it's too late for you."

Somewhere

Maria was finally in her room as she quickly opened the door and closed it. She walked towards the middle of her room, stopping right in the middle.

She stood there for a seemingly eternal moment, allowing the room's silence to envelop her. She remained this way for a few moments of silence with her hair shadowing her eyes, hiding her face from view. Slowly her hands began shaking, which then began spreading towards the rest of her body till she looked like a leaf trembling in the wind.

Before not long she slowly fell down to her knees, placing her hands onto her face before she went and COMPLETELY lost what little control she had over herself.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

She bellowed out like a siren as she put her hands on her face, screaming out to the heavens. Whether or not the heavens heard this cry remained to be seen…