Chapter Text
Nana Shimura was kneeling on the ground, panting, blinking the blood out of her eyes. All For One was quickly approaching, and she knew deep down... That this was the end.
Well, she smiled sadly, at least Toshinori is safe.
All For One reached for her, the ground breaking apart as a bright light filled the air – and a gray eye opened up beneath Nana. Her eyes widened as she was pulled through mere moments before the villain's attack landed, and found herself falling through a white void.
What is this...?!
That's all she was able to think, before she got spat out in some dark room. She panted, looking around. It... Looked like someone had turned a room in their house into a personal lab, with all the books and equipment. She looked around, trying to figure out something, when she saw someone.
Or at least, she assumed it was someone. The figure in question was horribly disfigured, their limbs distorted and their skin a dark, sickening color. Nana stumbled, approaching the figure and tried to find a pulse on them... But found nothing.
She sighed, "You poor soul..." Nana got back to her feet slowly, looking around, "I need to figure out where I am, and how I got here..."
Slowly, she made her way through the door and the rest of the bare, somewhat dirty house.
It looks like whoever lived here decided science was more important... She shoved a rotting wooden plank away from her path with a foot as she thought. She got to the door, squinting slightly at the light of the setting sun.
Nana walked outside, glancing to and fro as she tried figuring out where in the world she was. The streets were unfamiliar to her... So she wasn't in Japan, then
"Miss? Are you alright?"
Nana spun around at the sudden voice, lifting her fists on instinct. She saw a stocky man in a blue uniform, his ginger hair done in a shaggy crew cut.
He looked her up and down – her unusual outfit, her wounds, how tensed she was... She was just in a fight, but of what kind? That much he had to figure out, "Who are you?"
Nana sighed, lowering her fists and standing straight again, "I apologize, I'm just a little... Turned around." She offered a small smile, "My name's Nana Shimura."
The man raised a brow, "Sounds Xingese."
At that, she frowned, "Xingese...? I don't recognize that..."
"... Come with me, miss. We'll get this sorted out, and I can get you some medical while we do that."
"Right – thank you, mister..." She laughed lightly, "I'm sorry, I never even got your name."
"Don't worry about it," he started walking back to his car, "I'm Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda."
"Second Lieutenant?" Nana followed him, "You're military?"
"Mhm." Heymans got behind the wheel, and started driving once Nana was secured in the back seat.
Nana glanced out the window, wondering just where she'd ended up...
Nana followed Heymans into an office, looking around as he saluted someone, "Colonel Mustang, I've returned from my patrol with someone you'd probably like to meet."
Nana looked to the man behind the desk. He was a young, clean-shaven man with dark eyes and casually unkempt dark hair. He looked up at her, raising a brow, "Just who is this, Breda?"
"My name's Nana Shimura, sir."
"Sounds Xingese." He got up, turning to a blonde woman with a serious face, "Hawkeye, get a medical kit for her."
"Yes, sir."
He turned to Nana, "And as for me, I'm Colonel Roy Mustang."
Nana rubbed the back of her head, "Another person saying I sound Xingese, and I don't even know what that means..."
Hawkeye approached her with a first-aid kit, "Please sit down, miss. I can't treat wounds I can't reach."
"Ah! Right, of course."
Roy moved to stand before her as Hawkeye treated this mysterious woman, "You have a distinctly Xingese name, yet you claim to have never even heard of it," he folded his hands behind himself, "so then just who are you, Miss Shimura?"
She looked up as her wounds were getting treated, "... You might want to sit down."
Roy raised a brow, but sat down regardless.
Nana took a deep breath, "I come from a country called Japan. And I have reason to believe it's in another world."
Roy raised both brows now, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, "Is that right?"
The woman nodded as Riza finished her work, going to stand behind Roy's seat, "That's right. I was in the middle of a fight with a rather nasty villain – pretty sure I was about to die. But at the last moment, right before his finishing blow made contact, I was... Swallowed up."
"Swallowed? By what?"
Nana frowned, trying to think, "... By a gray eye on the ground."
Roy's eyes widened, his shoulders tensing slightly.
"It pulled me into this white void, then I got spat out in some dark room."
Roy spoke up, "Describe the room to me."
Nana rubbed her head, "It looked like someone converted one of their rooms into a lab. There were science books, equipment–"
"Was anyone in the room, miss?"
Nana stopped, her face falling. She looked down, clasping her hands and resting it against her forehead, "Only a mangled corpse, sir."
Roy sighed, "Rebound..."
Nana's eyes opened, and she looked up at him, "Rebound?"
Roy leaned back, "The cost of an alchemic transmutation gone wrong."
She frowned, "Alchemy? Transmutation?"
He nodded, "Yes. I take it you don't have it, then?"
"Well, I've heard of alchemy... But mostly just as myths and such."
"Heh," he offered a slight smile, "well here it's a science. It's the process of understanding matter, deconstructing it, then reconstructing it. But you have to be precise," his eyes narrowed, "or you'll be hit with rebound. Rebound happens when the transmutation tries to take something from the alchemist to complete itself. Sometimes it's as small as a lost finger. But other times..."
Nana sighed, "... Your whole life. Is that right?"
Roy nodded, "That's correct." He got to his feet, "Now, I'll need to investigate the house."
"It's the one you wanted me to check out, sir," Heymans spoke up, "that alchemist that we got suspicious reports of."
The Colonel's eyes widened, then closed with a sigh, "Of course it was..."
Nana clenched her fists together, looking down at them, "They died bringing me here. Didn't they?"
Roy looked to her, "... Yes. As I understand it, they were attempting human transmutation; one of the fundamental taboos of alchemy."
"If alchemy brought me here..." She looked up, a determined fire in her eyes, "Then it can put me back."
Roy looked to her, "You'd really attempt it, even knowing the cost that was paid to bring you here?"
"There must be a way, I..." She looked at her hands, "I have to get back."
Roy thought for a moment, analyzing her, "... How smart would you say you are? And your ability to think clearly in combat?"
Nana actually laughed at that, "I was a Pro Hero – so pretty damn good, I'd say! And as for intelligence, I'd like to think I'm a smart cookie."
"Well then," Roy's eyes glinted like a magpie, "I just might have a solution for you."
Riza sighed, knowing that look.
"If you become a State Alchemist like me," he held up a silver pocket watch, "you'll gain access to classified research materials, a research grant, and a military rank equivalent to Major. And if you serve under me, I can make sure you get your research done."
Nana thought for a moment, analyzing the watch. Then she grinned wide, getting to her feet, "That sounds like an excellent plan!"
"Great!" Roy grinned wide, pocketing the watch, "Then let's get started on your training! First we'll need to forge some documents," he started pacing, "you can't go about saying you're from another world. We'll lean into your name and say you're from Xing – luckily, I got a friend who can fake your existence and make a visa."
She nodded.
"Then you'll need a specialty... I'll get you some materials, you can decide that for yourself. Meanwhile, I'll get my friend on those papers." He walked over to the phone on his desk, dialing a number and waited for someone to answer. After a moment he spoke, "Evening Hughes. Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time. ... No, I'm not calling to hear about – Hughes I can hear the photos – damnit Hughes listen–!" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his brow as he muttered, "She's two, this isn't just new father syndrome...!"
Nana raised a brow, smiling a little.
Roy straightened up, speaking sternly, "Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." He paused, then smirked, "Thank you. Come down to my office." He paused again, then immediately spoke, "No." With that, he slammed the phone down, sighing in relief.
The new woman laughed lightly, "Who was that?"
"The man who's going to help us with your situation." Roy folded his arms, waiting.
After a moment, the door slammed open. Nana looked over, seeing a tall and lean man with dark spiky hair, his hazel eyes framed by a pair of rectangular glasses. He walked in with a jovial look on his face, waving enthusiastically, "Roy! What made you call me so... Late." He stopped, looking at Nana. She waved at him with a smile, which he returned before rounding on Roy, "Got yourself a girl, Mustang~?"
"Hardly," Roy walked forward, "Miss Shimura needs documents and a cover-story made. She plans to become a State Alchemist under my watch; something she can't do if she doesn't exist."
"Shimura? That sounds Xingese," Maes folded his arms, his face going serious, "she an illegal alien or something?"
"Or something," Nana smiled lightly, "In fact, 'alien' might be more accurate than you think."
"Ooh, sounds mysterious! Tell me more?"
"I'm from another world, with superhuman strength."
"Superhuman strength?!" Maes leaned in, "I'll admit that you are rather beefy, but to say that you're beyond human..."
Nana laughed, patting a bicep, "It's my Quirk!"
She got confused looks all around the room.
The woman looked around, connecting the dots in her head, "You don't have Quirks here. Do you?"
"Nope! Are they superhuman abilities?"
"They are. Most of the world has them where I'm from," she gave a little sigh, "which just confirms that I'm not there, I suppose..."
Roy put a hand to his chin, "Just how strong are you, exactly?"
Nana offered a wiiide grin, flexing an arm as she spoke, "My punches are strong enough to create blasts of compressed air."
His eyes widened, then he got that mischievous grin again, once more looking like a magpie that found something shiny, "You don't say!" Roy turned to Maes again, "I want those papers done as soon as possible, Hughes!"
The jovial man gave a salute, "Sure thing, Roy! And while we're at it," he turned to Nana, "you're gonna need a place to stay!"
The new woman offered a light smile, "I won't say no to that."
"Great! Hope you don't mind kids because I have an absolutely adorable little girl!"
Roy groaned as he started gushing.
Nana's smile widened just the slightest bit, "I love children! Let's go so I can meet the little princess."
"And a princess she is!!!" Maes started going on and on and on as he led Nana out of the office and to the car.
Roy sighed in relief as he sat down at his desk, "I imagine she'll regret her decision by morning."
"Perhaps." Riza mused, nodding slightly.