Chapter Text
Now that Shouto was transferred to the HPSC main building, they were able to rewind his body to how it was 6 hours ago. That meant the scar on his face was entirely gone. The remaining bruises and injuries were healed separately while he was sedated.
They didn’t have enough time to run the necessary experiments and tests for now, but thanks to Dr. Touchstone’s quirk they were able to determine that Shouto did in fact have two different sets of quirk genes.
When using her quirk, upon physical contact, a large touchstone would be produced which contains medical information of the affected individual. Information such as their height, weight, blood type, quirk genes and more. It could even check the inner organs’ conditions. All that in addition to her own incredibly useful knowledge and ambition made her a useful asset to the commission for their research.
It was decided to have Shouto wake up once so they could explain the unfamiliar environment to him and have him activate his quirks when he was hooked up to the machines and then put him under for a thorough assessment.
Constant beeping was what dragged Shouto back into consciousness. He felt some tubes attached to his arms. He tried opening his eyes to try to see where he was, but it took a few blinks for his vision to clear enough to take in his surroundings.
He was lying on an uncomfortable bed in a bright room while hooked to a few machines, and he had no idea what their purpose was. There were three women in the room who were smiling at him, he didn’t recognize any of them. He felt uneasy immediately. It was his first time being in a hospital and he decided he did not like them.
The woman on the left spoke first upon seeing his open eyes. She had shoulder length ash blonde hair that was pulled back behind her ears. Her eyes were turquoise blue and matched the color of her coat and skirt. She was wearing a necklace with pearly oval shaped attachments. Despite her smile and professional attire, she looked unfriendly to Shouto.
“Oh good, you’re finally awake.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he tilted his head in confusion and greeted her in a small voice.
“Hello?”
“Hello Shouto. You must have so many questions, let me help you. You have been healed completely in case you were wondering why you aren’t feeling any pain. I am the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission; you can call me madam.”
He vaguely remembered his dad talking about their organization in their training sessions. They were in charge of heroes if he remembered correctly
She gestured towards the woman on her right who was wearing a medical attire. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail and dark glasses framed her face shielding her dark eyes.
“This here is Dr. Touchstone; she has helped with healing you and monitors your condition.”
After that, she pointed to the other woman who had long wavy pale blue hair and bright red eyes. Her smile was far gentler than the other two, mixed with her more casual outfit it made her seem more friendly. Shouto was familiar with different kinds of smiles because of how different his mom’s smiles were when father was and wasn’t present.
“And this is Ms. Akari. Her quirk helped get rid of the scar that was forming around your left eye. Now, if you have any questions. Feel free to ask.”
Shouto took in the new information and nodded while his eyes took in the new faces. He remembered his mom’s words about thanking someone if they did anything for him. So, that’s what he did.
“Thank you for helping me.”
Ms. Akari responded, “You’re welcome little one.”
Thinking of his mom reminded him why he was here in the first place.
“Where’s my mom? Is she ok?”
The president mused, “She hurt you, didn’t she?”
Shouto’s eyes were starting to get wet, but he pushed back his tears, now was not the time to cry. He nodded in response in fear of them spilling out if he spoke.
“You don’t have to worry about her. She was taken to a hospital to receive help.”
That is good, but he was curious about one thing.
“Can I see her?”
“I’m afraid not, she needs some time away so that she can recover first.”
He felt sad but if she could get better that was okay, he didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to ask his next question, but he had to.
“And dad?”
He was curious about why Endeavor had left Shouto alone in this room. Especially since he was hurt.
The president responded in a gentler tone, “He is not here. Do you want to go back to him?”
His mismatched eyes widened upon hearing that. His dad had really left him alone and he had the option to not be with him anymore? This didn’t feel real. He shook his head slowly as if he was dreaming, and too much movement would wake him up.
“I don’t have to?”
The ash haired woman elaborated, “No, you don’t. We have agreed to take over your training. So, you don’t have to go back to him anymore if you don’t want to.”
His eyes were sparkling, mouth agape in wonder. In his shocked state, he failed to notice the sad smile Ms. Akari was giving him.
“Really?”
“Yes, he agreed that if your training went well, he would stay away from you. You just have to make sure you improve.”
If he couldn’t see his mom anyway, why shouldn’t he continue his training away from his house? He might miss his siblings, but he didn’t really know them since he wasn’t allowed to play with them and Touya was gone now. They probably hate him for taking mom away anyways.
“I will.” Shouto decided.
“Good, now do you have any more questions?”
Shouto did wonder how his new training would be like, but he assumed they would tell him when it begins. However, there was something that he remembered about the incident with his mom.
“What does unsightly mean?” Shouto asked.
They didn’t seem to be expecting that question judging by their expressions.
Ms. Akari decided to inquire, “Why do you ask that?”
He furrowed his eyebrows, “Mom said that my left side is unsightly before she poured hot water on me.” Shouto shared with a tilt to his head.
And if that didn’t make her heart break even more for this poor boy.
“Oh sweetie. Unsightly means ugly, but I’m sure your mom didn’t mean it like that. It sounds like she wasn’t thinking clearly when you interrupted her.” She explained.
He thought about the explanation. That was what he thought as well. Mom was never afraid of him before.
“She was looking at me, but she wasn’t really seeing me. I think she saw dad instead,” he wrinkled his nose, “dad is ugly.”
His innocent tone and expression did bring a chuckle out of the women in the room. He asked, “So, I’m not ugly?”
Ms. Akari assured him that he is very cute. That made him smile for the first time since he woke up. Dr. Touchstone broke the silence after that sweet moment.
“If you don’t have anymore questions Shouto, I need you to show me how your quirk works to decide how your training will go. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded and created a small cube of ice with his right hand. He then passed it to his left hand and evaporated it with a controlled flame.
“Good job. Can you use both sides at the same time now?”
He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and repeated the action. However, both the cube and the flame were bigger this time. He widened his eyes, quickly getting rid of the ice to apologize.
“Sorry! I don’t have good control when I use both sides at the same time.”
He didn’t want to mess up before his training had even started. What if they send him back to dad already?
Noticing his distress, Dr. Touchstone waved her hand in dismissal, “You don’t need to apologize. That’s what training will be for. I just want to observe how your quirk works. Is there anything else that’s different?”
He was glad he wasn’t in trouble.
“I also get tired faster if I use both sides at once.” He answered.
She nodded, jotting down the information.
“Ok then. Shouto, you can rest now, and we will start training when you wake up. Does that sound ok?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The president put a hand in his hair. “Sleep well child.”
Dr. Touchstone pressing a button on one of the machines was the last thing he registered before he slipped into darkness once more. He thought he would be sleeping for a couple more hours and wake up in the morning to begin his new life. He didn’t know he would be in a medical induced coma for a week while the HPSC ran tests and performed operations.
A few days later.
Madame President walked into the room where Touchstone was reviewing the results of the latest extraction of Shouto’s quirk genes from different parts of his body.
“So, any information about the distribution of his quirk genes?”
Touchstone looked up from the reports and adjusted her glasses while responding, “Right in the middle of his body is where genes of both of his quirks are both activated. Both genes are spread evenly throughout his body, but only one of them is activated on each side. I’m not sure if his chimerism caused this or the other way around. But, since they are available, I’m certain that they can be awakened with enough stimulation.
He is very young and has great control for his age. Both sides of his body have the same resistance to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. His quirks seem to activate automatically to protect him at those temperatures. I believe if we expose him to those conditions while he’s conscious and using his quirk he would gradually become capable of using whichever quirk on any side.”
The President expressed her satisfaction at this new knowledge before asking, “Is there anything else to note?”
Touchstone flipped the report to another page before answering, “In regard to him using both sides at the same, it appears that it takes quite a strain on his body. Fortunately, neither his ice nor fire are fueled by his own body when he generates them. So, he will only be at risk of frostbite or overheating, which could easily be prevented by balancing the output.
I presume the tiredness he stated could be attributed to the body not being accustomed to using two quirks at once even though he was born with them. It is worth noting that he is small for his age. A tailored diet and routine will help with that. We should work on monitoring and slowly increasing his quirk output of each side. After his stamina and durability has been increased, we can push him to use both at once. We shouldn’t push him too much in the beginning, it would be detrimental to him and his body.”
The president considered her words and probed, “So, you’re saying when he wakes up, we should focus on enhancing his quirk while leaving specialized physical training for later?”
“Precisely, so long as he’s as active as an average 6-year-old that is adequate. Gymnastics and swimming will help with his motor coordination for now. If he performs well, we can introduce him to beginner’s level martial arts after a few months. More advanced physical and combat training can wait until he is at least 8 or 9 years old.” She reported.
“Sounds acceptable to me, well done Touchstone.”
Touchstone gave a bow in response to the praise.
“Of course, Madame. I’m still not over the naming of his quirk “Half-Cold Half-Hot” and how literal that is. If only they knew”
The president chuckled, “They will one day. For now, we can appreciate that not interfering with Enji’s attempt at eugenics was beneficial for us. We don’t have any records of people with two quirks since All For One was active and even then, they weren’t “natural”. This is invaluable research.”
Touchstone could only agree. Lots of people would kill for this knowledge, let alone the opportunity to conduct further research. They had hit a gold mine with Shouto.
It was decided to wake him up after a few more days and start his training after necessary rehabilitation due to the induced coma.