Chapter 7

"C'mon! Hurry up, Danny!" Milly said, banging on Danny's door impatiently. "You promised we'd go explore the city this weekend!"

Danny groaned, comfortably nestled in his sheets and not wanting to move. He'd almost forgotten about that. And he had so been looking forward to sleeping in, too…

"Danny, if you don't come out, I'm going to have to come in~" Milly sing-songed, jiggling the handle to Danny's dorm room.

Danny yelped. "All right, woman! I'll be out in a minute!"

Milly heard the sounds of a crash inside and some muffled cursing. She giggled. Her boys were just so easy to motivate! All she needed was the proper leverage. A few minutes later, Danny emerged, his hair messy and his clothes (that T-shirt and jeans combo he seemed fond of) askew. He glared at her.

"Madame President, you're so cruel," he complained, attempting to straighten out his clothes.

Milly ruffled his hair, messing it up further. Danny batted her hands away. "Let's go! Everyone's waiting for us!"

"Everyone?" Danny said warily.

"Everyone" turned out to be the entire Student Council, plus Nunnally. They were all waiting at the entrance of the school for him. Shirley was holding a large picnic basket.

"About time you showed up," Rivalz teased before throwing an arm around Danny's shoulders. "Let's go! Operation Explore the City is a-go!" He dramatically pointed a finger beyond the gates.

Danny sighed, resigning himself to normal Student Council insanity. "Okay. Where to first?"

Their first stop was the park nearest to Ashford Academy. It was apparently Nunnally's favorite place to be off campus. It was rather tranquil, and there was a small garden attached to it that Nunnally enjoyed visiting. After visiting the garden, Nunnally parked her wheelchair under the shade of a tree and bade the rest of the group to enjoy themselves. Shirley and Nina lounged under the tree, talking happily with Nunnally. Milly roped Rivalz, Danny, and Lelouch into a game of Frisbee. Surprisingly, Lelouch actually did better than Danny thought he would, his hand-eye coordination and dexterity ensuring he caught most of the Frisbees thrown his way but his weaker strength making his throws rather pathetic. (Lelouch's ability to get out of gym class and his disdain of all things physical were legendary, for even a newcomer like Danny to have heard of it.) Milly and Rivalz teased Lelouch about his lack of physical strength, which he was able to take like a champ and dish back out verbal punishment in return. Danny felt like the awkward fifth wheel on the cart until Milly pulled him aside and ordered him to loosen up.

Around lunchtime, the group reconvened around Nunnally's wheelchair and had a picnic lunch which Shirley had so thoughtfully brought for them. The sandwiches were a bit dry but otherwise tasted just fine. Like the rest of the meals he'd eaten since entering this world, Danny relished the simplicity of eating something that wasn't either awful cafeteria food or tainted with ectoplasm from his parents' experiments.

"Where to now?" Danny asked once the last sandwich had been eaten.

"Well, it's up to you," Shirley explained. "We planned this outing especially to make you feel more comfortable around us."

Danny blushed, unused to such thoughtfulness from anyone besides Jazz, Sam, and Tucker. "What are my options?" he asked, self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck.

"There's a bunch of other parks and museums, like Tokyo Tower," Lelouch offered. "There's also the shopping center, the theater, the zoo…"

Each option brought up a memory of Danny, Sam, and Tucker hanging out at just those kinds of places (though they were usually interrupted by ghosts). Danny felt a rush of homesickness, and his face unconsciously settled into a pained expression.

"Hey," Milly said, poking him in the forehead, "No frowny faces today. We're out to have some fun!"

"Sorry," Danny said, smoothing out his expression. "Just reminded of something, that's all. Uh, I need to get some more clothes, so why not go to the shopping center?"

"…You don't actually have any clothes beyond your uniform and what you're wearing now," Lelouch deadpanned, frighteningly astute. "You literally just showed up at our doorstep with nothing but the clothes on your back, didn't you?"

"Is that true, Danny?" Nunnally asked, concerned.

Danny gulped, amazed that Lelouch had seen through him so easily. "Um, yes. But there's nothing to worry about! I have Ashford Academy now, and enough money to get some more stuff." He'd swapped out his American dollars, ID, and credit cards, which he hid under the floorboards in his dorm, for his shiny new Britannian ID (courtesy of Ruben Ashford) and Britannian pounds in his nondescript black wallet. Strangest of all, however, had been his cell phone, which, by all accounts, shouldn't have worked in an alternate universe, but which had immediately picked up the largest cell phone carrier in Area 11. Danny had paid for a monthly package, allowing him to communicate easily with his new friends, despite that they'd curiously never seen a cell phone quite like his before. But aside from his uniform sets, the clothes he was wearing, and some toiletries provided by Ashford Academy, Danny Fenton had nothing to his name.

Milly gasped. "Well, that is simply unacceptable. We will have to remedy that immediately! To the shopping center! Time to pick out some new clothes for Danny!"

Danny shrugged and allowed himself to be pulled along by his new friends. Sayoko, who had come with the group to look after Nunnally, took the wheelchair-bound girl back to Ashford. Britannian structures weren't terribly accommodating for the handicapped, and Nunnally didn't want to get in the way of their shopping trip.

"Do you want to talk about why you don't have anything?" Shirley offered kindly as they made their way to the shopping center.

"Yeah, I'm curious!" Rivalz added, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Shirley for being insensitive.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Danny said. It wasn't as though he could tell them that he'd been pulled from another universe; he just didn't trust them that much. Maybe it would put up a wall between them, but Danny wasn't supposed to be getting too attached, anyway. Despite the fact that they were doing nice things like actively trying to befriend him.

It turned out that the shopping center was nothing like the mall back home, more open air and less confined to one building. Danny gaped at the sheer size of the sprawling grounds. This place was definitely higher class than the mall back home.

"Okay! Let's start over here!" Milly directed them to a smaller store that specialized in men's clothing. When they entered, Danny could immediately tell that the clothes weren't really to his taste. For one, they were too formal, crisp button-downs and classy slacks hanging on the racks, and for two, by looking at a price tag, Danny could immediately tell they were way too expensive.

"Milly, I can't afford any of this stuff. Besides, I'd prefer something more casual," Danny protested as Milly and Shirley began rifling through the racks, debating about what would look best on Danny.

Milly waved off his concerns. "I'll buy something for you from this place. You can't not have something formal to wear at Ashford."

Danny made a surprised noise in the back of his throat. "Are you sure, Madame President?"

"Of course! Shirley, tell him why he needs something formal."

"We put on a lot of events for the student body, and a fair number of those are formal. You can't be a recluse and just ignore all of them," Shirley chided.

"I'm sure you'd look nice in whatever you'd choose," Nina inputted shyly.

In the end, Danny wound up with a rich blue pressed button-down shirt that matched his eyes, a pair of black formal slacks, and a pair of nice black suede shoes (that he could also wear with his uniform). Milly happily paid for the purchases, smug that she'd been able to find an outfit that looked stunning on Danny, as agreed by the rest of the Student Council.

"Okay, now we can go find the clothes that make you look like a delinquent," Rivalz said teasingly, elbowing Danny lightly.

"I don't look like a delinquent," Danny protested even as he noticed that his clothes were considerably more casual and worn than those of his companions. The girls were wearing skirts, the boys weren't wearing jeans, and everybody but him was wearing a shirt that looked nice.

"I think there's a store than caters to the lower class in a few blocks," Lelouch said pensively. "I realize that more casual is what you'd prefer, but just be aware that people will look down on you for wearing clothes like that."

Danny shifted self-consciously. Britannia was a lot more classist than he was used to from back home. "I'll be fine. Besides, I can't really afford more expensive clothes right now anyway." Ruben had been fairly generous with the money he'd given to Danny, but it wouldn't be enough to stock his wardrobe with the more expensive clothes the students at the elite Ashford Academy seemed to prefer.

"Okay, it's your choice," Rivalz shrugged. "Alright, guys! To the general store!"

Danny relaxed as they entered Britannia's Walmart equivalent. He could get some polos, some T-shirts, and some jeans, all at an affordable price. Despite it being a place the higher-class Ashford Academy students wouldn't usually set foot in, Milly and Shirley appeared to be having fun helping Danny pick out outfits while Rivalz and Lelouch occasionally chipped in their two cents and Nina looked on nervously. Everything was fine until they made it to the checkout line.

"Damn Eleven! What are you doing here in the Settlement? You should just stay in the ghettos, where trash like you belongs!" Danny's head whipped around, and he saw a Japanese woman being harassed by a Britannian man. The woman was cowering and looked like she wanted to cry.

"B-but I need new clothes for my son—" she tried to reason.

"Your son can wear rags for all I care! I don't want to see the likes of you in a place like this!" the man shouted, grabbing the woman by the neck. "Now be a good little Eleven and scram!" The woman choked, and tears started pouring from her eyes.

Danny saw red and had to calm himself down before his glowing green eyes attracted notice. "Hold my stuff for me, guys?" he said distractedly as he slipped out of line toward the altercation. He barely noticed Lelouch following him.

He saw the man tighten his grip and before he had time to think, he was grabbing the man's arm in a crushing hold. Maybe it was a bit too strong for human capabilities, but it had the desired effect of the man gasping in pain and letting go of the woman.

"What do you think you're doing?" the man ground out, trying not to let his discomfort show on his face as he attempted to wrench his hand from Danny's grasp.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? You're assaulting someone in the middle of broad daylight!" Danny said, aghast. Like the last time he'd intervened with someone's abuse of a Japanese person, a whispering crowd started to form. Danny still couldn't understand how these people could overlook the blatant disregard of human rights.

Then Lelouch stepped up, cool and unshakeable. "We're terribly sorry for the trouble," he said smoothly, tugging at Danny's arm in a signal for him to let go of the man. "This woman is a maid of ours. We apologize for any disruption on her behalf."

"You should get a better maid," the man sneered, but he looked unwilling to continue harassing the woman when she had Britannian backing. "Get her to stay out of Britannian shops!" he sniped as he walked away, pushing through the small ring of spectators.

"Are you alright?" he asked the puffy-eyed Japanese woman, who was looking at him as though she'd never seen anything quite like him before.

"Y-yes, I am, s-sir," she said formally, trying to control the quaver in her voice. "Thank you. P-please, let me pay you back."

"I'm good, thanks," Danny said as the woman started digging around in her purse, which thankfully hadn't been snatched as "reparations" by the angry man. "You don't need to give me anything."

"Here," Lelouch said, pulling out a twenty-pound note from his wallet. "To help with your son's clothing. Though I suggest you try a different shop to look in."

The woman stared wide-eyed at the note before making a hastily aborted bow. Britannians only bowed to nobility and not as a gesture of respect and gratitude. Lelouch held out the note, and the woman took it with trembling fingers.

"Be careful on your way back home," Lelouch warned as he turned to walk away, leaving the woman and the incredulous spectators behind. Danny stayed for a few more moments while the crowd dispersed, making sure that no one would get any ideas about taking the money or otherwise harassing the woman more, and rejoined his friends at the register.

"I can't believe I have to service a stinking Number-lover," the cashier muttered under her breath as she rang up Danny's purchases. Danny had to take a few calming breaths so that his eyes wouldn't flash green at the insult. Finally, they made it out of the shop in one piece.

"It angers you, doesn't it? How badly the Japanese are treated?" Lelouch asked as they started traveling back to Ashford Academy, since it was sundown and they had a curfew. Lelouch was the first Britannian Danny had heard calling the Japanese by their actual name instead of the demeaning Eleven. "You should be better about hiding it. You'll get into trouble one day defending them so recklessly."

"So I shouldn't defend them?" Danny asked coolly.

Lelouch shook his head. "That's not what I meant. You have to be more careful in how you stand up to people like that, otherwise you won't be able to stand up for them at all." Lelouch's words rang ominously like a lesson learned the hard way. He didn't look like he'd been physically injured, so maybe he'd angered someone higher up on the food chain?

"What if he'd been a noble? Then you'd really be in trouble!" Milly piped up.

"A noble, in that store? Please," Rivalz pointed out. Danny shook his head. Even the working class abused the Japanese instead of feeling compassion for them.

"It worked out okay. Let's not linger on something like this?" Shirley suggested. The others seemed to agree, but the way they looked at Danny seemed to have changed. Danny cheated and studied their auras: Milly and Rivalz seemed to think he'd done a good deed, Shirley's and Lelouch's opinion of him seemed to have risen, but Nina believed he shouldn't have done such a thing. The impression traced back to a deeply-rooted fear that was likely of the Japanese.

"It was very brave, what you did," Lelouch said lowly, bringing Danny's attention back to the physical world, as his other friends chattered about something related to school, determined to regain the lighthearted atmosphere that had dominated the rest of their trip. "It's good to know that other Britannians will stand up for the Japanese."

Danny had to bite his lip to keep from automatically firing back, "I'm American." Instead, he just nodded and took the praise as it was.

It was disappointing that their day out had to end on such a sour note. But at least Danny had gotten what he'd needed to last in this world.

But he wasn't the type to just sit back and live comfortably while other people were suffering. The Japanese people were being treated horrendously by the Britannian overlords. But what could he do…?

Welcome back to The Phantom after six long months! I'll be updating much more consistently from now on. Apologies for the wait!

I realize that this chapter is mostly filler, but I really wanted to show Danny's relationship with the members of the Student Council in a stress-free setting. Also wanted to show how Danny's building his life in Britannia and how he's reacting to the nationalist Britannian policies.

-HM