The sharp antiseptic scent and the coolness of the air conditioner were the first two things that fully welcomed Nabiel back to consciousness. He was now sitting propped up on the bed in U.A.'s infirmary, far from the noise and cheers of the spectators in the main stadium. Both of his arms, previously hidden inside an oversized white shirt, were now bare up to the elbows, wrapped in thick layers of bandages applied by Recovery Girl to stop the bleeding from his reopened USJ burn wounds.
Although a throbbing pain still spread from his fingertips to his shoulders, the expression on the face of the black-haired young man looked remarkably relaxed. It was as if a heavy burden had just been lifted from his shoulders.
"Yahhh!!! Finally, I can be truly free!" Nabiel exclaimed while carefully stretching both arms into the air, extending the muscles in his back. He turned toward the long black-haired girl sitting on the chair beside his bed. "Hey, Momo, do you think Midoriya was really trying to kill me earlier?" he said in a joking tone that sounded utterly lazy.
Even though his injuries looked serious, he felt incredibly relieved by his success. He did not care about the defeat. For him, leaving the arena meant he had successfully shed his status as a competitor and returned to being an inconspicuous background character. He could go back to observing the flow of the story without having to break a sweat.
However, the joke did not land well with his listener at all.
"Don't joke about that!" Momo shouted in front of him, her voice piercing through the silence of the infirmary.
Nabiel immediately fell silent, his outstretched hands slowly lowering. He stared at his childhood friend. Momo's face was flushed, her eyes glistening as she held back overflowing emotions. Both of her hands were tightly clenched on her lap, crumpling the hem of her sports uniform skirt.
"Your wound... it's opened again, you idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" Momo grumbled, her voice beginning to tremble. The tears she had been holding back finally escaped, rolling down her cheeks. "I already told you not to push yourself! You know exactly how severe the nerve and tissue damage in your hands is! What if you end up with permanent disability?! What if you can't use your hands anymore?!"
Seeing the tears from the girl who always carried herself with grace and rationality, Nabiel's selfish defenses crumbled. As an Outer, he was used to viewing everything as a fictional scenario. Death, injury, pain, all of it was merely seasoning to drive the plot forward. Yet, watching Momo cry purely out of worry for him reminded Nabiel of the reality that in this world, he was a human being named Nabiel. And his actions had consequences for the people who cared about him.
Nabiel let out a soft sigh, his dark gaze softening. He smiled faintly, a smile he rarely showed.
"Y-Yeah... sorry, Momo," Nabiel said in a far more sincere tone, letting his laziness fade for a moment. "I truly apologize for making you worry again. But... I needed to give Midoriya a few words so he could become a little more aware. That kid... he has a bad habit of destroying himself for the sake of others. Someone has to stand in front of him and force him to face that reality."
Momo wiped her tears with the back of her hand, still looking at Nabiel with an annoyed yet relieved expression. "Still... you didn't have to sacrifice your own hands just to lecture him."
"That was a fair price for a valuable lesson," Nabiel replied casually, leaning back against his pillow again.
Before Momo could respond to that argument, a soft knock sounded from the door. The sliding door of the infirmary opened, revealing very familiar figures. The tall Shoji Mezo, the petite Mineta Minoru, and Asui Tsuyu. They were Nabiel's teammates from the previous cavalry battle round.
"Nabiel-kun, are you okay? Kero," Asui asked. The dark green-haired girl walked closer to the infirmary bed, tilting her head as she looked at the thick bandages on Nabiel's hands.
"As you can see. I'm still alive and breathing," Nabiel answered in a flat tone, glancing at the three of them.
"You were amazing!" Mineta exclaimed cheerfully, hopping lightly near the foot of the bed. His eyes sparkled with admiration. "Beating Midoriya like that, not giving him a chance to breathe at all! Your moves earlier were insane! If you hadn't gotten hurt, I know you could've won and advanced to the next round!"
Nabiel only snorted in amusement at Mineta's enthusiasm. "Win? Please don't wish that kind of misfortune on me, Mineta. Just imagining having to fight in the next round against monsters like Todoroki or Bakugo already makes me mentally exhausted."
"That confuses me."
Shoji's heavy and calm remark instantly cut through Mineta's excitement. Nabiel turned to the large young man with six arms. Behind the mask that covered part of his face, Shoji's eyes stared at Nabiel sharply, radiating sharp analytical intelligence.
"You could have won much earlier," Shoji continued, stepping closer. "At the beginning of the match, when you successfully slammed Midoriya down and pinned him, you had absolute positional advantage. If you had truly intended to force Midoriya out of bounds, you could have thrown him out of the arena right then. But you didn't do it."
The infirmary suddenly fell silent. Asui placed a finger on her chin, seemingly agreeing with Shoji's words. Momo also turned toward Nabiel, only now noticing the tactical oddity.
"Instead of ending it quickly," Shoji added, "you let the fight drag on. You provoked him, allowed him to use his full power, showed off that incredible Quirk of yours, and then at the very last moment... you stepped back yourself. It was as if you handed Midoriya the victory for free."
Nabiel stared at the infirmary ceiling for a few seconds. The sleeves of his shirt dangling at the side of the bed swayed gently in the breeze from the vent. He had to admit, his U.A. friends' fighting instincts could not be underestimated. Shoji had seen through his act.
"A free victory, huh?" Nabiel muttered slowly, breaking the silence. He turned back to his friends with his pair of deep, dark eyes that seemed bottomless. "It may look that way from the outside, Shoji. But believe me, nothing in this world is free."
Nabiel raised his bandaged right hand, gazing at it with a lazy yet meaningful look.
"Midoriya needed that victory more than I did. He carries the burden of expectations he must prove to the world, to himself, and to... the people watching him," Nabiel said, slipping in a double meaning that referred to his role as the Outer Observer. "As for me? I just want to take a peaceful afternoon nap without being chased by hero agencies demanding I work hard every day."
"Just for that?" Asui asked, her tone sounding incredulous.
"Of course," Nabiel nodded convincingly. "Besides, my hands had truly reached their limit. If I had forced myself to endure Midoriya's insane final attack, Recovery Girl might have to find me a cybernetic hand right now."
Hearing the explanation, Shoji paused for a moment before finally nodding slowly, accepting the reason even though he knew the young man in the oversized shirt was hiding something far deeper.
"Well, whatever your reason, we came to check on you," Shoji said on behalf of the team. "Thanks to your strategy in the cavalry battle, we were able to show our worth. You fought well, Nabiel."
"Thank you for your hard work, Nabiel-kun. Kero," Asui added with a small smile.
"Get well soon, buddy! Once you're healed, help me peek—" Mineta's words were abruptly cut off when one of Shoji's tentacle arms covered his mouth and lifted him away from the bed.
"We'll head back to the stands to watch the next matches. Get some rest," Shoji said as he dragged Mineta out of the infirmary, followed by Asui who waved her hand.
The sliding door closed again, leaving Nabiel and Momo alone in the room. The atmosphere grew quiet once more. Nabiel let out a relieved sigh and adjusted his sitting position.
"You're really a terrible liar when facing someone perceptive, Nabiel," Momo gently scolded. The girl sat back down in her chair, her expression now much calmer than before.
"I'm not lying," Nabiel protested lazily. "I really want to sleep right now."
"Not that part," Momo shook her head slowly, a faint smile finally forming on her lips. "You deliberately became a stepping stone for Midoriya-san, didn't you? Just like how you always give me a logical perspective when I feel like I'm falling."
Nabiel did not answer. He simply closed his eyes, letting the faint cheers from the stadium drift in through the infirmary window. Out there, the story continued. Spectacular matches would take place, conflicts would reach their peak, and the characters would grow according to the script of reality.
But for now, the Outer Observer felt very satisfied. He had participated, he had felt the pain of being human, he had pushed the Protagonist in the right direction, and most importantly... he had successfully returned to the edge of the stage.
"Wake me up when the tournament is over, Momo," Nabiel murmured softly, his consciousness beginning to fade into the embrace of peaceful drowsiness. "Being a background character... is a very exhausting job."