Lying in a bed that smelled of solvents and cleaning chemicals, the former inmate watched TV across the room, waiting for the people he had been told about to finally come. He had been waiting patiently for at least an hour, but only the health care staff walked past his room. He didn't mind staying there any more than that, but the bandages on his arm and torso had to be changed, and it was one of the people who had to come here who was charged with taking care of it.
The time here passed much more slowly than usual, which gave him time to think about his situation and the pointless fight he carried on with Rumi; he didn't know how he was still alive, which made him uneasy. He should have exploded to pieces when Overhaul had touched him; if not, then it was his opponent's choice... but why?
Most notably, he still didn't understand why the Hero Commission had put him in such exposure to get a simple underground MMA champion out of there. Of course, there was the fact that he could boost his allies and debuff his enemies, but he could have just asked him to focus solely on boosting Mirko, but instead, they were training him to fight. As he had thought from the beginning, they had been neither honest nor straightforward in their explanations, and the fact that he hadn't been allowed to have a visit until the Commission had visited him was further proof of it.
The sliding door to his room opened gently and revealed Recovery Girl, followed by a mid-long white-haired man and the President of the Hero Commission; two bodyguards waiting outside on either side of the door.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Felix; those two idiots kept me waiting," began the old heroine as she took out a roll of bandage and removed the one on his arm, revealing many small scars on it. "This will be the last bandage, just to keep your arm in shape. Your body is healing even faster than I thought... in addition to regenerating many missing cells..."
A silence took place in the room; Recovery Girl, aware that she had been manipulated, was also waiting for answers, just like Felix. No one should be able to do this, to heal himself as he had done while being able to deal with a dangerous individual; it is a "quirk combination" with no relevance. She knew very well that it had to do with the young man's unusual abilities she had already treated twice.
"You want to play the Quiet Game?" she grunted, waving her syringe cane at the two members of the Commission present in the room. "Not just a slashed arm, but a punctured lung could have left him with serious problems, not to mention the X-rays we took, which showed that his shoulders, legs, eyes, and glands were seriously altered... Nothing serious for the moment, but it's not the first time you've put a young person in danger. You're doing the same thing you did with poor Hawk!
"...We thought we could solve the problem of the underground world, but in the end, we were fooled by the incongruous arrival of an individual; if he hadn't been there, everything would have gone well," explained the man with the long white hair and tired look, sitting on a chair. "At least we managed to get the champion of the place... all this fuss tires me..."
"We needed Felix to go into the ring for his ability to copy quirks. We sent him for security; losing Mirko would have been even worse than losing him."
"You can fuck yourself with a stick," he replied, turning his eyes to the President. She looked at him for a moment and continued talking to Recovery Girl.
"Kendo Rappa is a person only interested in fighting. We wanted to get him back to join one of our teams and promised him that he could fight powerful villains and have access to a reasonable amount of money... He finally agreed after a few days, but Mirko had to knock him out several times," she added as she put her purse on the floor. "We thought we could investigate about Trigger, but in the end, it was something else that caught our attention. Also, using Felix as bait to get the attention of the person we've been looking for for a long time was perfect."
Perfect. This word resounded in Felix's ears like venom as if his existence and the assets he brought with him were of no importance. Either she had changed her mind about him in a short time, or she was profoundly dumb.
Even though he had understood that all this was a final test for him to be 100% integrated into their team, the risks they were taking were nevertheless disproportionate, probably in anticipation of a disproportionate threat.
"No need to worry, I'm alive and perfectly stable," said Felix, frowning, still annoyed by the way they were treating him. "You're a nice bunch of bastards, but let's not talk about it anymore."
"...So, could you tell me what his real quirk is? No need to lie to me any longer," asked Recovery Girl, ignoring her patient's last remark.
"I can manipulate my hormones and those of others and any chemicals the body produces that behave like hormones," Felix replied before others could respond, seeing this as an opportunity to break free from the Hero Commission's grip. "On the other hand, elsewhere, I can steal people's hormones for a while and thus steal their quirks. That's how I partially rebuilt my arm, using the little hormone from the enemy I had been fighting, mixed with new stem cells for my arm... I created them with growth hormone; it made my healing much easier."
"And so..." the nurse seemed to think as she closed her eyelids. "Apart from the fact that you would make a good doctor and nurse, your quirk is pretty incredible... The possibilities are almost endless... I guess you wanted to use it for your own benefit and for the general public who don't know, right, Chairwoman?" After wandering silently in her thoughts for several minutes while giving Felix the final treatment, she looked up at the other two members in the hospital room. "Rather than using him as a disposable handkerchief, I have a much better solution for you."
"...Which is?"
"I can teach him."
"Teach him? We're already taking care of that," the President replied, looking at her phone.
"I'm not talking about fighting."
"But we need as many powerful people as we can-"
"But what about using his quirk for something actually useful. You told me he's already started medical school, so why doesn't he continue with me," sighed the nurse as she placed her medical equipment on a small table. "Not everything has to be settled by violence."
The old woman's words were wise and far more reasoned than those of the Hero Safety Commission, who saw only solutions through brute force. The perfect example of this was the raids they sometimes organized against structures where villains proliferate, no real plan, just a rampage.
And finally, when they dared to take risks, they did it badly.
The nurse had seen enough in her life to know how everything was operating with them; after having treated hundreds of people because of their hasty choices and not taking into consideration the word of the quirk bearers, they were running to their own demise. If only the staff were provided with something other than quirkless people, perhaps they could make more appropriate decisions. Even though they were doing their job well to protect the population, the same couldn't be said for the protection afforded to the heroes and the people they were using.
So when the President tried to explain herself for more than half an hour with her henchman, her words had no resonance; the nurse simply didn't believe a word of it and just put the blame on their shoulders.
"Talking with you is useless anyway... And if we don't go your way, you will do as you did with the former chairman of the Commission and stop working with us," sighed the President, pushing her hair backward. "What are you suggesting, Chiyo?"
"It's Mrs. Shuzenji for you! I am older than you! A little more respect is needed," grunted the old lady, as Felix enjoyed the dramatic turn of events, seeing that the situation was changing even faster than expected. "I suggest that I train him to manipulate his quirk and to practice in my main office at UA. Not this year, but next year."
"Practice...? They are children... Are you aware of the risks involved in handling his quirk and of the background of this boy? If the families ever find out that a former convict is a doctor at UA..." replied the tired-looking man, holding his head in his hands.
"He's 21 years old, and because of his past, his screw-up is partially justified, but I think this boy has just shown that he has changed. In addition to that, you told me before that he had been behaving impeccably throughout his detention-"
"If that ever happens, our reputation and credibility and that of the most prestigious school of heroes will plummet-"
"You're the one who got him out of jail! And you were ready to feed him to the wolves of the underground! Take responsibility and accept real risks," cried Recovery Girl irately. "...He's only done 'good things' so far, things that YOU asked him to do! Plus, I'll be with him, so if he messes up, I'll know what to do. My decision is made anyway. What do you think, Felix? You're the only one who didn't talk about it."
"...Well." he looked for an appropriate answer and stared at the nurse. "I think it would be better for everyone," he said, holding back a mischievous smile once again. "You wanted me to boost some heroes, but in the end, you were ready to sacrifice me... so..."
The Hero Safety Commission officials, already preoccupied with more than just Felix, and seeing him as a cheap means to achieve their ends, just nodded off as they went through their documents and noted the changes in their schedules. They foresaw much more the new generations of heroes carrying the hope of a free and orderly society, so betting that Felix would do what he had already started with Mirko on the apprentice heroes were crazy. But when faced with the dean of quirk medicine and of the UA, even the Hero Commission couldn't really cope; she was backed-up by too many famous figures such as All Might, Gran Torino, or other UA alumni who had become famous heroes.
Moreover, making sure that Felix could use his power with all the necessary knowledge was paramount to them if they wanted to significantly boost every hero they had in their line-up... One of the only ways to counter the Trigger drug is coming back more and more on the black market.
After discussing for a long time how all this was going to happen and how to get the nationally recognized high school to accept such a young doctor on staff, the two members of the Commission left with scowls on their faces, leaving Chiyo and Felix to discuss their mutual decisions, and when and where their next professional appointment would be. It would be complicated to make him a full member of the high school staff at first, but at least he would be able to come and help out and still do whatever he wanted outside of it.
Besides, unlike teachers, medics and nurses are much more discreet, hardly anyone knows them, and the costumes help even more go unnoticed. One good thing to know when you consider how Felix has to boost the women he faces, it was better if nobody would recognize him outside of work.
—I will have to work hard for several months... I guess this is the first step to get rid of these mosquitoes. A necessary sacrifice, as my mother would have said if she was here.
The final tests and treatments were completed just before noon, and Felix was finally able to leave the hospital after lunch. It had been almost a week since he had been unable to breathe outside air because of his punctured lung, which was even more complicated to treat than his arm, but since the wound was perfectly straight, his treatment repaired the organ without leaving any marks.
He sighed as he thought again about the fight and the ill-intentioned hand that had come out of a black veil... No one had been able to tell him what it could be, but he was sure they knew at least a little bit about it; maybe he would finally find someone honest to talk about it.
Since that time, he hadn't looked at his system once, too busy thinking about his arm and what might happen to him after this victory that sounded like a failure.
However, after discussing all his problems and the changes his body had undergone with Recovery Girl, he now knew that his body was the same as before, he hadn't lost any strength even after returning to [Level 1], and furthermore, that using super-hormones seemed to force his body to evolve, but in compensation for his own super-hormones.
—I think it's about time to check this out...
[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]
[Level 4 — {40/200} — ]
[STR ▪ 76]
[DEX ▪ 56] — [AGI ▪ 56]
[END ▪ 412 {+2%}] — [RES ▪ 106]
[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]
—So... Those guys we "beat up" brought me about 300... or 350 EXP... This wasn't a complete victory or a kill, so I guess the amount of EXP isn't really accurate to what it would be if I did. The dude with the mask must have been worth a lot more. If it works like my old system, sex should still bring me more EXP depending on how much pleasure I give and receive, how many orgasms I give and get, and how horny and needy each person is... I wonder how much I could attain. On the other hand, fighting shouldn't be the primary source... I need to investigate that.
The former inmate left to say goodbye to the nursing staff that helped him and walked down the large stairs to the clinic's reception area. As soon as he left the hall, he saw a blue silhouette advancing towards him, short, tousled dark blue hair curling around her head, her yellow and worried eyes looking at Felix's body to see if the injuries were apparent. Kaoruko widened her eyes when she saw the bandages around his arm and looked up at him, trying to appear as serene as possible.
"F-Felix... I... I... How can I put it... I know it sucks, but are you okay? They called me this morning to tell me that you were going out around 2:00 p.m... You've been in the hospital for six days, and I haven't been able to come to see you," she stammered, already starting to lose eye contact. "As soon as I knew that you and Nighteye would be working together on a mission, I knew that something bad was happening..."
"Well, hello," he began with a gentle smile looking at her, appreciating the effort she had made to dress well, with tight black pants and a ruffle blouse. "I was injured, but I made it out; I'm okay now. So don't worry. Thanks for the cookies and for the book I told you about last time, by the way; it gave me something to do other than watch TV."
"You're welcome; it's a thank you for-" she stopped and closed her thick eyelashes several times quickly as if shocked by her own words. "I'm reassured now, apart from the bandage on your arm, you seem to be fine... Would you like to go for a drink downtown? My car is already here."
"I just got out of the hospital, so it's not really advisable, but why not. I guess you want to talk about something," Felix paused and turned to her as they walked away from the hospital. "Nighteye told me he'd be there with you, but... where is he?"
"He told me he had to go talk to All Might about you..."
"Huh...?"
"I don't know. Nighteye didn't tell me more than that," she said as she approached the car. However, just as they were both about to get into it, a voice belonging to a little rabbit-eared young woman called out to them, her red pupils unusually cold.
"Who is she?" Rumi asked, speaking to Felix.
The Canadian turned around, not knowing how to react to a person with a messy temperament like Rumi; he felt like he had fallen down a rabbit hole and couldn't get his foot out. Dressed as casually, as usual, she seemed a little unhappy with herself; but the most important part was the first word of Felix.
"Oh..."