The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism

Chapter 198: 198 | Shadowmeld

"There are." Nyx agreed. "Usually accompanied by medical documentation of the triggering event. Your file doesn’t have that documentation."

"Maybe I didn’t want to share."

"Maybe." Her eyes never left mine. "Or maybe your Aspect isn’t what your registration says it is. Maybe whatever let you rank third on an exam that favors raw power isn’t the mid-tier telekinetic ability you claimed during the practical assessment."

〘 Nyx Calloway has established threat perception toward the Host. Rivalry or threat condition satisfied. The Host should note that further engagement with this heroine may produce complications related to cover story maintenance. 〙

Complications.

That was one way to describe a girl who’d apparently done a background investigation on me before we’d even met and was now sitting three feet away with an expression that suggested she considered me a puzzle worth solving.

Maribelle was watching the exchange with the fascination of someone who’d stumbled into entertainment they hadn’t expected. Her earlier assessment of me as potentially interesting had been upgraded to definitely interesting, which probably meant she’d be paying closer attention to everything I did for the foreseeable future.

Great.

Two heroines who thought I was hiding something, which I was, and who had apparently decided that figuring out what I was hiding would be a productive use of their time.

"You’re making a lot of assumptions based on file data that might not be complete."

"I’m making reasonable inferences based on available information." Nyx’s voice was cool, almost clinical. "Your entrance exam performance is inconsistent with your registered capability. Your Aspect manifestation timeline is inconsistent with documented medical history. Your background includes nine years of residence with Diane Fitzgerald, whose media company represents multiple top-fifty Heroes."

"Diane’s my guardian."

"I know. Your parents died during an S-class incident in the Eastside when you were eight. Vanguard and Reina Belmont. Mid-tier California Heroes with Impact Absorption and Light Step respectively." She recited the information without notes, without hesitation. "Neither of those Aspects should have produced a child with telekinetic capabilities. Aspect inheritance doesn’t work that way."

My jaw tightened.

Nyx noticed.

"I’ve upset you."

"You’re talking about my dead parents like they’re data points."

"They are data points." She said it without cruelty, without malice. Just a statement of fact from someone who processed the world through information and analysis rather than emotion and intuition. "Everything about everyone is data points. The question is what story the data tells when you arrange it correctly."

Maribelle’s hand settled on Nyx’s arm with the gentle precision of someone intervening in a process she’d watched derail before. "Maybe ease up on the systematic deconstruction before he’s even unpacked."

"I’m not systematically deconstructing anything. I’m identifying inconsistencies and requesting clarification."

"From where he’s standing, those might register as functionally identical activities."

Nyx went still. The suggestion that her questioning might land differently than she’d intended appeared to be news she was processing in real time. Something in her face shifted, the analytical sharpness softening into what looked like recognition, though whether she was recognizing the problem or simply that a problem existed was less clear.

She looked at me directly.

"I didn’t mean to imply criticism of your parents. Their service records are exemplary by any professional metric. They died protecting people during an incident that resulted in four Hero casualties. That outcome is admirable independent of its relevance to your registered Aspect classification."

It was an apology, or at least the closest approximation someone like her could produce. She’d identified that a line existed and that she’d crossed it. The emotional mechanics of why that line mattered in the first place seemed to be running on a separate system she hadn’t fully integrated yet.

"Nyx has boundary issues," Maribelle offered helpfully, her tone carrying the weight of someone who’d had this exact conversation before. Probably multiple times. "She’s working on it."

"I don’t have boundary issues." Nyx’s correction arrived with the same analytical precision she’d applied to dismantling my Aspect registration. "I have information processing preferences that sometimes conflict with social expectations about appropriate conversational topics."

"That’s a very fancy way to say you have boundary issues, sweetie."

Nyx made a sound of frustration that was almost identical to the one she’d made when Maribelle had been teasing her about falling. Different contexts, same underlying annoyance at being called out for something she considered technically accurate but socially inconvenient.

I found myself smiling despite the tension of the last few minutes.

She was annoying. Intrusive. Clearly had no concept of appropriate first-conversation topics. And she’d just spent five minutes systematically dismantling the cover story I’d spent three months building.

I kind of liked her.

"Your Aspect." I redirected before she could launch another investigation. "What do you do?"

Nyx hesitated, which was interesting. She’d just demanded full transparency about my capabilities while apparently being reluctant to offer the same.

"Shadowmeld. I manipulate darkness."

"That explains the aesthetic."

She looked down at her all-black outfit like she’d forgotten what she was wearing. "The aesthetic is practical. Dark colors are harder to track in low-light conditions."

"And they match your personality."

Her eyes narrowed. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"You’re wearing combat boots to move-in day at a dormitory. You researched every student in our class before meeting any of us. And you just fell off a couch because you were too busy being suspicious of me to watch where your feet were going." I leaned back against the cushions. "Dark and complicated seems like a fair summary."

Maribelle laughed, bright and genuine. "Oh, I like him."

Nyx’s blush returned with a vengeance. "I wasn’t being suspicious. I was being thorough."

"Same energy."

"It’s not the same energy."

"It’s extremely the same energy."

〘 The Host has established meaningful contact with Maribelle Kennedy and Nyx Calloway. Combined with previous contacts with Rina Soleil and Camille Ortega, the First Step To Harem King quest objectives have been satisfied. Bonus objective for rivalry or threat condition achieved through Nyx Calloway. 〙

Quest complete.

The foundation was laid.

Now I just needed to build on it without getting caught, exposed, investigated, or destroyed by any of the multiple women currently developing opinions about me.

Standard protagonist problems.