章 2122: 52
Izuku stood in the medical wing with his partners, Recovery Girl, Aizawa, and Nezu. The group was waiting for Hawks to arrive. It was a couple days before Christmas, and the doctor who would fix Himiko's shattered mind was finally in Japan.
Izuku swallowed as he felt a knot building his stomach. He hadn't voiced the worries, but he was pretty sure his partners had the same ones. He was worried that something would go wrong and that for one reason or another, the doctor wouldn't be able to fix Himiko, and their friend would be left in a shattered state of violence and anger forever.
Hawks rounded the corner escorting two people. The first was obviously the doctor. He was a head taller than Hawks with deep brown hair kept short and neat. His eyes were entirely white, but based on his movements, Izuku guessed he wasn't blind.
The doctor was dressed in a black suit and white lab coat. The other person was a blonde woman around Toru's height. Her pale blonde hair was nearly white in color and kept up in a messy bun, and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at everyone. The woman was dressed professionally in a suit and skirt.
"Glad everyone's here." Hawks said as he approached. "This is Doctor Liam Reger and his translator Iva Herz."
Iva smiled brightly and gave a quick bow as she spoke in Japanese. "It's wonderful to meet you all. The doctor would like to meet the patient as soon as possible. If there are any changes to her condition or details that weren't included in the initial report, now would be a good time to disclose that information."
As they started to walk, Recovery Girl gave Iva a complete rundown of Himiko's mental and physical state, and Hawks reconfirmed all the information he had sent the doctor. Iva nodded and effortlessly relayed the information to the doctor, who nodded and hummed. As they approached the observation room, Doctor Reger spoke, and Iva asked about Izuku and his partners.
"We're friends of the patient," Izuku explained quickly, hoping that they wouldn't be asked to leave.
Iva smiled. "I see. How well do you know her? And for how long?"
"We met her back in high school, but she vanished after a while... We don't know her as well as we wish we did, but I think we were close. At least close enough for her to change her ways." Mina said a bit of desperation leaked into her voice.
Iva spoke to Reger, who smiled softly at the trio as Iva said. "Doctor Reger won't need your help today, but he will need your assistance later. In the meantime, please stay in the observation room."
Izuku, Toru, and Mina nodded as Iva went on to explain how Doctor Reger's quirk worked. The doctor was able to enter the minds of his patients. While inside, he could sort out and repair the broken pieces of the patient's psyche. It would take time, and during that time, Himiko would be in a very delicate state, so they would need to be careful, and depending on the level of damage and how long she had been in this state, it may take weeks or months to fully heal her.
"Hawks, you are aware of what Ms.Toga was doing during the time she spent missing, correct?" Iva asked, and the Pro nodded.
"Wonderful, the doctor is able to pull up to two people into the patient's mind. He will take you along with myself into Ms. Toga's mind, and you can help us sort out when the altering started and who started it."
"Is there any danger while you are in there?" Aizawa asked as he watched a couple of nurses work on putting Himiko under so she wouldn't try to attack the doctor once he entered.
"No. Ms. Toga's quirk, while having a negative effect on her mind, does not alter it enough or allow for any sort of mental aspect, so she will not be able to attack us while we're working," Iva said. "Now, if that is all, let us proceed with the first operation. This one will mostly be an assessment of the damage and laying the groundwork for subsequent operations."
Those staying in the observation room watched as Doctor Reger entered with Iva and Hawks. The doctor placed his hand on Himiko's forehead while Iva and Hawks placed their hands on the back of Reger's head. Izuku watched with fascination as Hawks and Iva's eyes turned white, but the doctor's eyes suddenly gained brown iris and black pupils.
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Hawks wasn't sure what he felt when he did as Iva instructed and placed his hand on the doctor's head, but it kinda felt like when he flew but without any of the motions or effort. He was standing next to Iva and the doctor as they stared out at a black voice. A glint caught his eye, and suddenly, the void wasn't a void; it was a floating field of shattered glass and half-constructed rooms.
The trio touched down in the ruined remains of a classroom, and Iva asked. "Do you see the one who used their quirk on Ms.Toga?"
Hawks spotted her right away, and thanks to a lifetime of training, he kept his anger in check as he pointed at the image of Psion sitting across from Himiko. "There, that's most likely the point where Himiko came under Psion's quirk."
The doctor nodded as Iva relayed the info. Reger raised his hand and seemed to will the piece of glass to them. As he touched it, everything shifted, and Hawks suddenly found himself watching Himiko's life from her point of view, starting at Psion activating her quirk and ensnaring Himiko.
Things seemed to play on fast forward and slow motion at the same time as the doctor hummed and made occasional comments in German that Hawks couldn't understand. He guessed they weren't important for him to know since Iva wasn't translating. Various parts of Himiko's life flew by, and occasionally they would stop and watch a scene several times before moving on.
He wasn't sure how much time went by, but Hawks suddenly found himself back in Himiko's hospital room. The doctor had an unreadable expression as they went back to the observation room.
Once everyone was gathered, Iva, sighed. "Good news is that it was easy to see what was damaged and what wasn't. It seems the majority of the damage was centered around memories of you three."
Toru, Mina, and Izuku tensed as Iva continued to speak. "The one who altered Ms. Toga's mind focused on removing those she cared about and replacing the memories with ones of herself."
"And the bad news?" Toru asked. She was trying her best not to shake as she held her partner's hands.
Iva spoke to the doctor briefly before saying. "Bad news is that her mind is starting to heal and set, but it's not setting right, and obviously, there are real and fake memories overlapping."
Iva chewed her lip for a moment before saying. "It's like a bone that wasn't set properly; we're going to have to break it and remove the fake parts, then set everything in its proper place and help it along the path of healing."
"B-break it?" Izuku said as fear rose up. "Will that cause her any pain?"
Iva smiled softly. "No, it won't; Doctor Reger is a master when it comes to this sort of thing. If it all progresses smoothly and there's no backsliding, then it should take a month to repair Ms. Toga's mind and get her on the path of recovery."
The trio let out a sigh of relief, and after a couple minor details were hammered out, Nezu and Aizawa led Reger and Iva to where they would be staying. Recovery Girl excused herself, leaving Hawks with Izuku, Mina, and Toru.
The number two hero shuffled a bit and said. "I'm sure everything will go fine. We all know how tough Himiko is. In the meantime, don't let this situation drag you down. You three are still trying to become heroes, and it's the holidays, so go spend time with your friends. Once Himiko's back on her feet, we'll throw her a hell of a party, alright."
Izuku nodded. "Y-yeah... thank you, sir."
Hawks blew a raspberry as he opened the door. "Don't call me sir. It makes me feel old."
The trio let out various weak chuckles as Hawks left. They spent some time simply sitting and watching Himiko as she slept peacefully before heading back to the dorms for the day.
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Hirooki and Nemuri double-checked their supplies as they got ready to leave. Hirooki checked their pocket, making sure the ring box was in there. They were a hero who's been in some of the worst disaster zones in Asia, leading the effort to save hundreds of thousands of lives. Why was this making them so nervous?
"Ready to go?"
Hirooki smiled and shoved the worried away as they said. "Yeah. we got everything we'll need."
The couple went down and loaded up their bags into a car, and headed out. They chatted idly about anything and everything as they left the city and headed for the campgrounds.
After a couple hours of driving, Hirooki parked by the entrance building for the campgrounds and said. "We'll sign in, and then it's a bit of a hike to the campsite."
Nemuri pulled her hair up into a ponytail before adjusting her glasses before sliding her backpack on. "Sounds good."
Sign-in went quickly, and Nemuri followed Hirooki's lead as they started down the path towards the campsite. As they walked, Nemuri took in the sights and sounds. She had never been one for camping, so the vast amounts of nature soaked up her attention. Every flower, bush, and tree was observed, and she even spotted several birds and other animals keeping a safe distance from them.
Eventually, the trees thinned and opened up into a large field where only half a dozen or so tents were set up, each one with plenty of space between them. As they approached where they would set up, Hirooki said. "This site is an open one that during the busy months holds about twenty-five tents, but since it's so cold, we get more than enough space for ourselves."
Nemuri looked around, taking in the surroundings; as she did, she spotted where Mt.Fuji was though, at this time of day, it was covered by fog and clouds. "It's beautiful out here, and it's so quiet."
Hirooki chuckled as they set down their bags. "Yeah, it's great. Now come on, let's get everything set up, then we can walk around a bit more."
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Nemuri sighed as she sat in a chair wrapped in a blanket and sipped some hot tea. She and Hirooki were sitting shoulder to shoulder as they watched their small fire crackling in the darkness. They had finished eating dinner and cleaning up a while ago, and now the couple was simply basking in each other's presence and enjoying the quiet cold night.
Hirooki fidgeted a bit and reached over as they said. "Hey, Nemuri... I got uh a thing to talk to you about."
Nemuri let Hirooki take her tea and set the two cups down where they wouldn't be in the way. "Huh? What's up?"
Nemuri watched her partner shuffle in her seat with nervous energy. She hadn't ever actually seen Hirooki nervous before; it was kinda cute. "Well, you know we've been dating for a while and living together for the most part. I feel like this is a good time for things to go to the next step because I love you so much, and your happiness is the best thing I could ever hope for."
Nemuri's eyes widened as she saw the box, and everything clicked. "What? Are you really asking?"
Hirooki gave a shaky smile as they opened it revealing the silver ring with a single ruby held in a spiral cage. "I figured you wouldn't want something super flashy, and yeah... I'm asking if you wanna get married?"
Hirooki quickly found themselves tackled onto the ground as their girlfriend cried and hugged them tightly while repeatedly saying yes. Nemuri sniffled and squeezed Hirooki. "Yes yes yes a million times yes. I wanna get married to you."
Hirooki hugged her tight and made sure they still had the ring in their hand as they said. "I'm glad because this camping trip could have been really awkward if you had said no."
Nemuri snorted and leaned back a bit to smile. "Did you really have any doubts I would say yes?"
Hirooki chuckled. "I knew it was nonsense to worry, but when it's something like this, you just can't help but be a bit irrational."
Nemuri sniffled and sat up. She couldn't stop the massive grin on her face from growing as Hirooki slipped the ring on her finger. "I love you, Nemuri."
Hirooki's heart swelled as they looked at Nemuri's teary-eyed smile. "I love you too, Hirooki."
____________________________________________________________________
Izuku looked over at his phone as it buzzed. A text from Nemuri popped up with an image attachment. Izuku set down his pencil, stopping his most recent sketch of Hawks, and opened the message.
Toru glanced over as Iuzku smiled and chuckled softly. "What's up?"
He handed his phone over as Mina leaned on Toru. "Some good news from my mom."
The girls smiled as they saw the smiling faces of Hirooki and Nemuri, the latter of which clearly looked like she had been crying her eyes out as she held her hand up, showing off the ring.
Mina chuckled. "Your mom looks like a mess."
"Yeah, but a happy mess, so it's good," Izuku said as he took his phone back. "I'm glad things are going so well for them."
Toru hummed as she leaned on Mina. the two girls had been lounging on bed watching youtube while Izuku sketched. "We might have to attend a wedding."
Izuku chuckled, "We're gonna have to help set the wedding up probably."
Mina pumped her fist. "Hell yeah. I've always wanted to do that."
Toru giggled and kissed Mina's cheek. "We don't actually know if they're gonna have one, though. They're both heroes, so they may just head to the court with a couple of witnesses and sign the papers."
"Either one is fine with me," Izuku said as he went back to sketch. "I'm sure they'll have some idea of what they'll wanna do when they get back from their trip."
His girlfriends agreed and went back to their video as he worked on his art. The days had been quiet after the Christmas party, with the tiro spending most of their free time in the observation room watching over Himiko as she either rested or underwent treatment with Doctor Reger. It was slow going, but it was progress, and that was all they could ask for. Every day was a step closer to their friend coming back.
Notes:
I remember what I was gonna say after the last chapter.
I wanna write books. I wanna do more than that actually. I want to make worlds and create fiction. I want to make places and characters that inspire others and get made into something. tv, comics, books all of it. I wanna be a writer and make stories that people love and talk about. I love fiction and crafting worlds and characters it's fun and occupies my mind constantly.
I have ideas for books hell I have an idea for a book series. There's so much I wanna do but I'm not there yet I don't think my writing is good enough to achieve that yet so I need to work at it. it's one of the reasons I started writing fanfiction another being that I thought it would be fun and it is.
writing these stories (even though I haven't been able to finish any of them) has been so much fun seeing how people react to my work. I saw a comment once that said they almost cried and I felt amazing after reading that because I did that. I was so close to making someone feel like they needed to cry. my words did that. that's amazing.
I used to want to be a cook and I also wanted to be an artist but neither seemed to fit me well enough. things about each pushed me from it. I can't even pinpoint when writing became an option or something I pursued but it did and here I am pouring my thoughts and feelings out about it.
I don't know why I felt like I needed to type this out but I did. it sat and stewed in my head for days and the only way for it to flow from me to the world is through this note so if you've read to this point thank you for indulging my rambling desire to type and share I appreciate every Kudo, comment, and view of my work and I hope you continue to enjoy what I create.
Thank you for being here and reading. Have a wonderful day or night be sure to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. until the next chapter be safe and healthy in your life.
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