Natsuo woke with a smile on his face and stretched languorously before his dark grey eyes fluttered open. His smile fell as he realized he was in his room in the Todoroki Estate. He'd been having such a good dream too. He was living on campus and Nell had started a video game club and she'd screamed at everyone in the club until they'd started to cry for their terrible gaming skills. It was a hilarious dream and he desperately wished he was back in it.

With a sigh, he drug himself from his bed and went to take a shower and get ready for the day. After he was showered, clothed and a little more awake, he headed for the kitchen for some breakfast. Hoping his father was already away at work, he paused and listened at the edge of the hall to see if he could hear his voice.

He just heard Fuyumi washing dishes after whatever she'd made for breakfast. Breathing a small sigh of relief he exited the hall only to groan inwardly as he spotted his father sitting at the table with a newspaper in hand. Natsuo ducked around him, avoiding his line of sight while trying his best to contain the scowl on his face. He slipped into the kitchen in search of a breakfast item he could take with him on the go, but was caught by Fuyumi.

"You got home late last night." Fuyumi commented and threw him a scrutinizing look waiting for his answer.

"Yeah, I had a project to work on. I'll probably be working on it all week." He responded as he continued his search.

"All week?" Fuyumi asked somewhat sadly. "I was hoping we'd get to have a few family dinners before you start living in the dorms. I feel like once that happens we'll never see you."

Natsuo felt his heart clench with guilt.

"Can't you work on it here?" She asked.

"Ah, it's a partners project, I don't kno-."

"Your classmate is more than welcome to join us." Fuyumi grinned.

If she did, she'd probably never speak to him again, it would be way too awkward. Or even worse he'd find out she was a fan of his father's and that would ruin everything. "I don't know." Natsuo grumbled.

"Well, ask them, please." Fuyumi threw a pleading look at him.

"Alright." Natsuo sighed as he finally found a breakfast bar. He grabbed it, and headed for the door.

His father threw him a curious look and appeared to be about to ask him something. Having a conversation with Endeavor, being literally the last thing he wanted to happen, he hurriedly scrambled out the door with his shoes halfway on. He adjusted his shoes outside before taking off toward campus.

As he was walking past a park he noticed two things, there appeared to be a coffin shaped cluster of roses in one patch of grass that several people were standing on the path staring at and the local jewelry store across from the park had its windows busted. There were some people sweeping up glass on the sidewalk and a few others working to board up the windows. What happened? His gaze fell back to the coffin shaped cluster of roses and he wondered if Nell had somehow been involved, she was the only person he knew with a rose quirk.

He got to campus an hour before class and headed to the campus cafeteria after realizing the breakfast bar was horribly stale. He discarded it in a trash receptacle. As he reached the cafeteria he paused as he spotted Nell at the coffee bar. She was dressed in another pair of fishnet leggings with a pair of acidic green shredded up shorts, a black tank top and a tattered jacket with an apron overtop and a silly coffee bar visor on her head. She was currently in the middle of a heated argument with a middle aged man wearing a polo with the coffee bar logo on it who Natsuo assumed was her manager.

Natsuo chuckled and made his way to the coffee bar as Nell flipped off the guy in the polo. He stormed away in anger yelling some profanities. Nell spotted Natsuo and her cheeks reddened a little.

"Dare I ask?" Natsuo watched her manager storm away in awe.

"It's court ordered." Nell rolled her eyes.

"H-Huh?" Natsuo gaped at her. "What is?"

"The job. Apparently, I have to prove I'm not a delinquent to the stupid Guidance Counselor's office by maintaining a campus job or I get kicked out of school." Nell growled.

"Pro-Tip, maybe don't flip off your manager." Natsuo laughed.

"Really?" Nell feigned surprise.

Natsuo snickered. "Why were you fighting with the manager?"

"He tried to tell me I had to cover up my tattoos and take out my piercings, I tried to tell him that my tattoos and piercings say nothing about my professionalism but me punching him in the throat might if he didn't get out of my face...and that was about it." Nell shrugged but the motion seemed to cause her some discomfort as she grimaced slightly. "Coffee? It's on the house because it'll piss off the asshole." Her voice sounded a little strained.

Natsuo looked her over, carefully. She looked paler than she had yesterday and she was moving much slower. "You okay?"

"I've dealt with far more annoying assholes than him back home, I'll be fine." Nell reassured him with a smile.

"No, not about that. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Natsuo asked worriedly.

Nell's smile didn't falter, "I'm fine. What can I get you?"

Natsuo wasn't reassured but didn't want to press her further, "uh, I'm not really a big coffee drinker so I don't even know where to start." He blushed.

"I'll make you my favorite then." Nell smiled and set to work. "What classes do you have today?"

"Medical Terminology and Greek Mythology." Natsuo replied. "You?"

"Botany and Greek Mythology. So I guess you're only half stalking me today." Nell giggled, causing his cheeks to redden.

"N-No." Natsuo blushed as she handed him some kind of blended beverage with caramel and whipped cream on top.

"I call it caffeinated caramel goodness." Nell smirked.

Natsuo took a sip, "wow, that's sweet and also incredibly bitter, how did you accomplish that?" He laughed.

"Lots of caramel and lots of espresso." Nell giggled. "Are we working on our project tonight or would you rather try to improve your abysmal gaming skills?"

Natsuo felt his stomach churn unpleasantly, "about that...um...could we maybe work on the project at my place? My sister really wants me to be home for dinner and the project excuse only prompted her to invite you along too." He sighed.

"Yikes." Nell offered him a sympathetic smile, "you sure that'll be okay? I tend to freak families out." She motioned to her appearance.

"My sister will be thrilled and probably ask you a million times if you think she could pull off some kind of piercing and if it would be okay for a teacher to have.." He paused to think, he wasn't sure how Endeavor would react, "honestly, I don't know how anyone else will react."

"I appreciate the honesty. I also support teachers with ALL the piercings." Nell smirked.

"Maybe you can talk her into it then." Natsuo shrugged. "So, you're okay with going?"

Nell thought for a moment, "if my presence there will be beneficial to your peace of mind, sure. Maria and I had a similar system for family events, it's good to have a buffer." Her expression softened and grew somber, she hadn't meant to speak her name again.

"Yeah." Natsuo nodded, he'd never really had friends he was close enough with before to come up with that kind of arrangement, "I think I would feel better if you were there..."

"Then I shall be there." Nell smiled.

Natsuo breathed a soft sigh of relief, it didn't seem as scary and daunting knowing he'd have the wild Nell with him. "Oh...how do you feel about heroes?" He asked wondering if his other concern may actually come to fruition.

Her expression grew dark, "they're garbage."

"Oh." Natsuo was torn between wanting to break into a grin as he realized she would absolutely not be a fan of his father and wanting to panic because he didn't want to traumatize her by forcing her to sit through dinner with a hero. "Uh-."

Nell shook her head shaking away whatever dark thoughts she'd conjured, "but I can be civil if there will be one present."

"Ah. y-yeah...my Dad...but honestly you don't have to be civil." Natsuo reassured her.

"I'll be civil for your sister's sake then, since she seems to want this to happen badly enough to invite me along." Nell's smile still hadn't returned to it's usual brightness.

"Thanks. I'll make it up to you, I promise." He grinned.

"You owe me about 50 hours of Overcooked time. We're getting 3 stars on every level or dying trying." Nell said seriously, causing him to chuckle.

"Deal."