Chapter Text
When Chisaki Kai was young he had watched his parents die.
It was in a so called “villain” attack that wouldn’t have escalated if it weren’t for quirks. Laws made him hesitate when he could have revived his parents with his own quirk. The problem was even if you wanted to help there were so many restrictions out there that if you did, you would be breaking the law.
Kai hadn’t had the practice though; he was only nine when they died. No one would let a nine-year-old practice using their quirk even if it could save lives. Especially not in public.
He had ended up in an orphanage in another district from his first home, which made him lose all his friends along with his family. The new people he was around tended to focus on his quirk first and anything else about him last.
It was part of the reason he ended up sneaking out when it got dark after he turned ten. The other part was to use his quirk, whether or not it was legal he was determined to be able to keep someone alive if that’s what he wanted to do. So, he snuck around in shadows, looking for trouble to clean up.
That night he crept towards where he could hear raised voices.
“Please, I don’t know anything!” a voice begged.
The was a smack of flesh and a crash as someone fell. “I better not see another hero snooping around my shop or next time I won’t be as nice,” a second voice threatened.
There was another smack and then a whimper before he heard the sound of retreating footsteps.
Kai watched the leaving figure for a moment before sneaking into the alleyway the beating had been happening in.
There was a figure curled up on the ground. They had pointed animal ears on their head and eyes that glinted with reflected light.
“You shouldn’t be here kid,” the person said as he slowly moved until he sat propped against the brick wall behind him.
Ignoring the comment Kai crept closer. “Can I heal you?”
Glinting eyes sharpened on his face. Kai was wearing a dark face mask and a hat to cover his hair. It wasn’t exactly a disguise, but it was all he had to hide with while he was using his quirk illegally.
“You’re the one I’ve been hearing about on the streets.” There was a pause as one of his ears flicked back and then towards him again. “You’re smaller than I thought.”
Kai scowled at him. “Yes or no to healing?” He could always try to find other people to practice on. No one would die in front of him again unless he wanted them to.
The man let out a chittering laugh, must be a fox mutation. “Yes, little one.”
He almost left at the nickname (he knew he wasn’t tall, and he had a very slim build, it didn’t need to be pointed out) but edged closer instead. When the adult didn’t move once he was in arm’s reach, he moved slightly closer. He crouched down and held his hand out, palm up.
The man put his hand on top and Kai focused his quirk on the body in front of him.
The first thing he noticed was all the disgusting contaminates (they made him want to flinch away) where they touched: dirt, dead skin, germs, salt, oil. He pushed past it and into the man’s body.
Bruises, scrapes, minor bone fractures, alcohol all registered to him along with the person’s general health. The man probably needed glasses but that had nothing to do with the swelling on his face. Definitely a fox mutation from what he could tell.
Changing his quirk activation from passive to active, Kai started taking apart the injuries and rebuilding them healed. The man squirmed a bit in discomfort, Kai didn’t have enough practice to go fast enough for the changes to be unfelt.
When he was finished, he let go.
“Thank you,” the man murmured as Kai stood up.
After flicking his hand and using his quirk to get rid of the contaminates from another person, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Kai didn’t answer the man as he left the alleyway.
A few steps later he realised he had company. Three people seemed to melt out of the shadows around him, definitely the work of a quirk, and Kai went tense.
“Hello there,” a woman said amicably from beside him. She had blue skin that seemed to glow in the dark slightly. She was wearing a jacket and straight pants that made him think of a suit.
The man on his left had dark skin that seemed to absorb the light around him, making it hard for Kai to see the edges of his face. If it weren’t for his matching outfit with the woman on his other side, he might not have even noticed the man was there.
He glanced behind him to see a slim but tall person with dark hair there. He didn’t know if he should turn confront them or keep walking.
If he fought there was a chance that it would get back to the adults in charge of his care, so he decided to answer. “What do you want?”
“Our boss has been noticing your work in the area,” the woman said in a casual way, as though they weren’t boxing him in while they walked. “You healed one of his people a couple days ago. Big girl with the yellow skin and fins on her head.”
He remembered that woman, she had been dying from multiple knife wounds. Internal bleeding from nicked organs along with significant blood loss. He hadn’t been sure he could save her, but it was good practice.
He hadn’t wanted her to die.
“You’re welcome,” he said shortly, and the woman laughed.
“Boss wants to thank you personally; think you can spare the time?” she said it brightly, but the other people showed it wasn’t an invitation he could turn down.
“I’m not going to be a villain,” he challenged her, shooting a glare up at her and wishing he was taller.
She laughed again. “Good thing we aren’t villains then!”
He reluctantly followed as they led him deeper into what he recognised as yakuza territory. When he had moved one of the older kids had warned him not to go there, especially after dark.
Kai flexed his hands in his pockets and ducked his head down, tracking where everything was around him.
All he had to do to get away was touch the ground. He could use it to hurt them and run. He could also kill them with a touch but that could be disgustingly messy. Besides, he didn’t really want them to die.
They led him into an old building that looked so similar to the ones around it that without the number posted on the front it wouldn’t be easy to find again even if he tried. It was grey with wide windows and only two stories high. The stairs to the front were concrete and the generic company names were done in black on the frosted glass doors. Inside the doors hung a fancy light fixture, halfway up the walls had dark wood paneling with red carpets under their feet. They went up the stairs to the second floor where more fancy light fixtures lined the walls. The light absorbing guard knocked on the solid wood door and a masculine voice called for them to enter.
He was ushered into a room that looked so expensive that Kai found himself momentarily hesitant to step on the plush red carpet. The walls were lined with art and sculptures were on display on pedestals that were art themselves. On either side of the desk were bookshelves crammed with books and the wall behind the desk was almost entirely a window. Two comfortable looking chairs sat in front of the desk with an even more plush chair behind it.
Firmly pushing his hesitation to possibly dirty the carpet aside, he marched into the room and glared at the man behind the desk.
Aiuchi Hiroto was someone he recognised by reputation, though he had never met the boss of the Shie Hassaikai himself. The man had the head of a crow, his feathers shone purple in the right light but were as black as his eyes and beak. Two arches like wings curved from his back but the feathers in them looked liquid, constantly dripping down to the bottom edges. He had feathers dotted on the backs of his hands which had black fingernails.
“Hello, you must be the one doing the healing in this district.” He didn’t wait for an answer before gesturing to a chair across from his desk. “Take a seat.”
“So what if I am?” Kai challenged; his hands shook slightly from anxiety, so he curled them into fists.
The man folded his hands together on his desk. “I have no quarrel with you for it, I just wanted to offer you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
The man stayed silent and then nodded towards the seat.
Kai held back a huff of annoyance and flopped into the seat. He shot a narrowed eyed look at the man.
“You may not be aware, but your healing actions draw attention. While legal issues may be your first thoughts on attention, breaking quirk laws would be the least of your worries.” The man raised a hand as Kai flung himself forward in his seat at what sounded like a threat. “I have no intention of harming someone who has freely healed one of my organisation. I’m warning of the others who would take interest.”
“What others?” Kai snapped.
The man sighed. “Villain groups or even the HPSC. I’m sure you can imagine how villains would want to use a healing ability like yours, but the HPSC can be just as ruthless in its recruitment efforts. We’ve lost too many people when they were unwilling to take no for an answer.”
Kai frowned but the man seemed really serious. It made him more worried than he wanted to admit.
“What do you suggest?”
The man waved a hand. “We set you up with your own space within one of our buildings in the area. We keep someone with a quirk to make it so you remain anonymous in the room with you and your patients at all times. You continue to do your work for free in a safe environment.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“Exactly what you’re doing anyway, free healing for my people.”
Kai narrowed his eyes. “And if I asked for specific equipment?”
“We’ll provide it,” he promptly answered. “Within reason of course.”
“Of course.” Kai thought about it. It would save him time going out to try to find people. He was also far less likely to end up in a fight he had no intention of being in. As long as the man wasn’t lying, he’d be safer…
“I could try it, but if I don’t like it, I’ll stop,” he declared.
“Excellent, we’ll have a space ready for you tomorrow. I’ll give you the location.”
“Can I see it before you bring anyone to it?”
“Of course.”
After that he was promptly ushered out of the building and escorted back to where they had found him.
He wondered if they knew where he lived and then decided he wouldn’t lead them directly there if they didn’t.
Kai wandered down the streets, thinking about what he would need in an actual space dedicated to healing.
Somewhere the victim could sit or lay down would be important. Maybe it being adjustable since he was still short and seeing wounds made it easier to visualise what his quirk needed to do. He was determined that some day he wouldn’t need to but for now he still needed practice.
Something to sit on while he worked would be nice. It would also be nice to have proper lighting.
Things to get clean would also be a necessity. Blood was messy and the people who got hurt were often dirty as well as bloody.
He hummed softly as he made a winding way through the streets back to his bed.
Kai went to the address he was given. The building was similar to the one he had met Aiuchi in, matching the ones around it, plain and it looked like it contained offices. After making sure he had the right address he entered the building.
Just inside he was met by two adults. One was a man with black hair, red eyes, and a thin frame. The other was a teen that seemed sullen about something, arms crossed and a mutation quirk.
His attention snapped to the man when he cleared his throat. “Hello, you may call me Enforcer, and this is Unseen.”
“You may call me Renewal,” Kai announced. He didn’t want to use the name of his quirk if government organizations were also a danger.
“We will show you where you’ll be healing people while you work with us,” the man said as he gestured to the stairs behind him.
Kai nodded and the man turned, followed by the still silent teen. The teen’s four feet clattered down the stairs and he realised they had hooves similar to a horse. They didn’t look like a horse though.
He pulled his attention back to their surroundings and noticed that they were in the basement of the building. He was led down an unassuming hall to a business he couldn’t identify past the frosted glass. The front lobby he was led into was also generic, a front desk and seating area. He was led past it and back into the section for employees, where he saw it would be a medical clinic during the day.
He was led into one of the exam rooms and the man gestured to the space. “This is the room you will be using to see anyone looking for healing. Look around and let us know if there’s anything you want changed.”
The teen didn’t enter the room and he heard them walk further away as he looked around. It was a fairly plain looked room, if not for the medical equipment. The walls, ceiling and even the floor tiles were white, though the tiles had a grey pattern to it. The cupboards around the room were a lightly stained wood with silver coloured knobs. The room had an exam table with a light that could be adjusted to shine on a specific area of the body. It was well lit and had a sink that he tested to make sure it worked properly. There were first aid supplies in the cupboards, along with blank lined paper, pens, and empty files.
“We can set you up with a space to keep any files you want to make,” Enforcer offered.
Kai shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. I don’t want to store information about what I do.”
He went to the exam table and saw there was an adjustable chair beside it but the table itself didn’t adjust.
“The exam table should adjust too, not all victims will be able to move on their own and I want to be able to see any wounds,” Kai announced.
“I’ll let the boss know,” Enforcer told him as he pulled out a phone. “Would you be comfortable seeing patients tonight?”
Kai paused and examined the man closely, noting his black and red freckles. His hands were thin and boney. He wore the same black outfit he had seen the other Shie Hassaikai wearing.
“I was told that someone with a quirk that makes it so I would remain anonymous would be with me,” Kai said, unsure if that would be Enforcer.
Enforcer smirked. “That would be Unseen. Do you remember what she looks like?”
Kai stared at him blankly as he realised, he didn’t. She had four feet sort if like a horse and reminded him of a teen but…
“How many doors did you pass when we came here?” Enforcer asked instead, his smirk growing.
Kai realised he had no idea and didn’t even remember how long the hallway was or what it looked like. He knew they were downstairs, but he wasn’t confident he could exit the building alone.
“Her quirk makes people forget the details of what they have seen. Anything you can pick up with other senses you will remember though. You can describe her to yourself out loud, but you’ll only remember the words and not what it looks like. You can hear her hooves though so you will know she has four feet,” Enforcer explained. His phone vibrated and he checked it. “Boss says he will order your exam table, but it will take time to get here.”
Kai nodded, surprised at the easy agreement but determined not to show it.
“I can see victims here tonight,” Kai decided.
Enforcer nodded and called for Unseen. “I will lead them in when they arrive,” Enforcer told Kai.
Unseen entered the room after Enforcer left and Kai let his eyes wander over her form.
He knew he could see her. She had hair, a face, arms, and a body but none of it was anything he remembered as soon as he looked away.
“You’re not going to remember me no matter how hard you look,” she snapped at him. Her voice was deeper than he had expected (his classmates all seemed to have high annoying voices) but still pleasant and smooth.
“You have an interesting quirk,” Kai offered, deciding to take a seat on the adjustable chair.
Unseen snorted. “That’s one way to put it. People always care more about my quirk than anything else.” She stamped one of her feet, the hoof ringing off the tiled floor.
Kai sighed. “A problem with society. No one looks past my quirk either.” He tucked his hands in his pockets. “It’s all ‘Renewal has such a strong quirk,’ ‘Renewal with be great with a quirk like his,’ and ‘Renewal be my friend; your quirk is so perfect!’ It’s tiring and they don’t even want me to use it.”
“No one wants to be near someone who makes you forget things,” Unseen snapped back. “I can’t turn it off.”
Kai hummed and flexed his hands. “People are short-sighted. There are plenty of details I would rather not remember seeing.” The day his parents died flashed in his mind, their blood on the grass painted in vivid detail.
“We’ll see how long that lasts,” Unseen muttered.
Kai ignored the comment and wondered how long it would be before someone arrived who needed healing. He watched the clock on the wall as time passed.
Every time he looked away from it, he couldn’t quite remember what it had looked like. Some part of him knew it wasn’t much time that had passed but he couldn’t remember exactly what time it was. It was such a fascinating quirk effect.
The sound of stressed voices brought his attention back to the present. A father ushered a little girl into the room with Enforcer looking in before staying in the hallway.
The girl had tears dripping down her face as she clutched at her arm.
“What happened?” Kai asked, then gestured for the girl to take a seat on the adjustable chair.
“She hasn’t said much but she came home with…well, it’s her arm,” the father answered.
Kai nodded and moved closer to the girl. Knowing he couldn’t fully trust his eyes to remember he touched the side of her head.
He couldn’t help but shudder at the oil from her hair and dirt, but he pushed past it to look at her body with his quirk. It reached her arm, and he realised it was broken.
Kai hummed. “You’ll need to rest your arm along the arm of the chair,” he instructed the girl who nodded reluctantly.
His eyes met those of her father’s. “I’ll need you to help her hold still. It won’t feel pleasant,” he warned as he looked back at the girl who stared at him, “but I can fix your arm.”
Once her father had his arms wrapped around her from behind to hold her in place on the chair, Kai gestured for Unseen to step forward. “Hold her arm still please.”
Unseen sighed and lowered herself down so she could pin the girl’s arm in place.
With that done, Kai reached out to touch the girl where her neck met her shoulder. He was able to hold back a flinch as he activated his quirk.
He first shut off the nerves to her lower arm which caused the girl to jump in surprise. Then he dissolved parts of her bones which made her shriek and try to pull away. He was able to push the parts of her arm back in place and remake her bone whole. The girl sobbed as he fixed the flesh around where the break had happened, repairing any damage.
Once he had finished, he gave her back feeling in her arm and ignored how she flexed her fingers. There was something odd about the girl. He checked through her body, absently fixing damage from past breaks and some bruises before he realised what it was.
“You’re quirkless,” Kai stated, letting go of the girl.
Her father picked her up and held her close. “Yes. The Shie Hassaikai are the only ones I know that will heal my baby girl right because of it. Are you feeling better now, sweetheart?” he directed the last question at his daughter.
The girl showed off her fully healed arm and smiled at her father. “All better!”
“You’re welcome to come back so she gets proper care,” Kai offered. It would be good practice for him after all.
The father thanked him and was led out by Enforcer.
“He joined our group for his daughter,” Unseen told him, drawing his attention. “He doesn’t quite consider himself one of us yet, but his daughter needed people who wouldn’t harm her for her lack of a quirk. She gets it even worse than I do.”
Kai hummed but didn’t say anything in return. Really, the Shie Hassaikai seemed like a group filled with misfits from what he knew of them.
Maybe this would be a good place to practice his quirk. After all, if you didn’t fit in you were often a target.
Soon enough he was using the space he had been given to treat victims regularly. Any changes he asked for were completed without an argument.
As his work continued, more people came to be healed by him. He steadily got busier as time passed.
That was why it was unusual when he arrived, and no one was there to be healed.
“What’s going on?” he asked Enforcer angrily. He could tell Unseen wasn’t there with a glance at the clock in the lobby of the clinic he used for healing.
“The boss wanted to explain when you arrived,” Enforcer told him, offering him a phone.
He took it warily and turned it around. It was an average looking phone that was common even in children his age… ones that had parents anyway. He hadn’t been old enough to need his own when his parents had died but they had been talking about getting him one.
It was a folding phone with a touchscreen in the center. It was entirely black, though a generic blue wallpaper lit up when he flipped it open. When he tested the screen, there was a lock screen.
A call started ringing through, he could answer that without unlocking it.
Glancing at Enforcer, who gestured for him to answer with a grin, Kai took the call.
He raised the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
“You’ve made it there safely, good. Unfortunately, the healing you have been doing has drawn the wrong kind of attention. We’ve redirected everyone that was going to see you in order to try and keep your office location a secret,” the voice he recognised as Aiuchi Hiroto told him.
“What happened?”
“One of your patients went missing and turned up last night more damaged than when you first saw him,” Aiuchi told him, and Kai sucked in a breath.
“He’ll be fine. We brought him to one of our other doctors to be patched up,” there was an underlying note of unhappiness in the man’s tone.
“Don’t you have secret entrances or something? I won’t stop healing people.”
Aiuchi sighed. “Most places don’t come with ready made secret entrances. We may have a lot of resources but making a tunnel isn’t exactly something that can be hidden from the general public.”
Kai let the conversation go quiet as he gave that some thought. “I can help.”
“You’re a kid.”
Kai huffed in irritation. “My quirk works on any material. I can dig a secret entrance.”
There was a thoughtful hum. “It wouldn’t just be digging; you would need to make sure the tunnel didn’t collapse on your head.” Kai rolled his eyes. “Can you make walls and support beams?”
Kai paused. “If I had the right materials,” he answered slowly. “I used to fix small things around the house.”
Aiuchi hummed. “We’ll get you to practice first and then you can build your secret entrances. Keep the phone, it will make it easier to arrange things. The password is 12345. Change it to whatever you want.”
“I will,” Kai said firmly. It was his phone now.
“I’ll send you a message when I have more information,” Aiuchi said, sounding amused.
“Goodbye,” Kai replied. The man answered the same and he hung up.
It looked like he would need to research construction work. Kai hummed and turned around to leave the building. May as well go and get started.
While he was researching how to properly construct tunnels, Aiuchi invited him to discuss his ideas during a meal. It was an invitation during one of his days off from school for lunch. At the orphanage the meals were made in bulk and usually weren’t the most flavourful.
Deciding it was worth the risk if he had good food in a public place, Kai looked up restaurants and suggested one that seemed like it might be good. Aiuchi countered with a place that was on the edge of Shie Hassaikai territory. He told Kai that anything further from the area might attract the kind of attention they were avoiding with him not healing anyone, since Aiuchi was very recognisable.
Kai tried suggesting Unseen escort him, but Aiuchi said she would be coming anyway. Her quirk didn’t reach everywhere so it wouldn’t keep people from following them and she could only go with one person.
Kai reluctantly agreed to Aiuchi’s restaurant suggestion.
The restaurant was plain on the outside but once he entered it was homey. The lighting wasn’t as bright as the sun outside but once his eyes adjusted it was good. He was unable to take in the details of the room around him, which made him search for Unseen and Aiuchi.
He was greeted by a waiter, and he explained he was there to see Aiuchi. The waiter promptly led him to the table where both were already seated.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” Aiuchi said once they had exchanged greetings. “I wanted to be sure we were on the same page for the new project you want to undertake with us.”
Kai agreed. “I have been researching architecture, the phone you gave me has been useful.” The screen might be smaller than a computer but that didn’t stop him from looking things up using the data that appeared to be part of the plan for his phone.
“Good,” Aiuchi seemed pleased. “That means you’ll understand some of what needs to be done.”
Unseen snorted. “Theory is very different than experience. Whatever you construct better be good.”
Kai shot her a look, but their waiter returned before he could answer. They placed their orders (Kai had looked the menu up before coming) and the waiter left again.
“The easiest materials to gain would be concrete and steel to reinforce it. They’re commonly used for structures so it wouldn’t bring attention to us to purchase them,” Aiuchi suggested.
Kai nodded. “They do seem to be common materials.”
“I will have one of our contractors come up with designs that will work to ensure that the tunnels don’t collapse under the pressure. Will your quirk be able to harden the concrete so that it doesn’t need to set, or should we include other materials?”
Kai shook his head. “I’ve never used my quirk on new concrete, I’m not sure.”
Unseen sighed. “How will you make tunnels if you aren’t even sure about concrete?”
“Unseen,” Aiuchi said warningly before Kai could answer.
“It’s true,” Unseen snapped back, Kai was getting the impression she was gesturing wildly with her arms. “It’s one of the most basic things to make a building and these tunnels will be used by injured people who won’t be able to escape if it collapses.”
“That’s why we set up this meeting and why we will set up others,” Aiuchi told her firmly before facing Kai. “We’ll need to have you test your abilities using the materials for making the tunnels and the tunnels themselves above ground before we take it to the step of actually constructing them.”
“That’s sensible,” Kai found himself agreeing.
“Good! We will set up times after I have acquired what we need and readied the space for you to practice,” Aiuchi answered.
Their drinks arrived and after they had thanked the waiter who left to attend to other customers, Aiuchi turned to Kai.
“Would you like books to help in your research while I prepare things? I know you have refused payment before, though I am willing to pay you for building tunnels that will have other uses in the future, the least I can do is provide you with books,” Aiuchi offered.
Kai stared at him in surprise. “I don’t want a payment,” he said slowly, “but I will accept books.”
Aiuchi hummed, obviously pleased. “I will make sure to get you some that are relevant to this project,” he promised.
“I don’t know why you’d want books,” Unseen cut in. “I had enough of them when studying.”
“The ones for school are horribly boring,” Kai agreed readily, school was such a waste of time.
“You don’t enjoy your classes?” Aiuchi asked, sounding surprisingly interested.
“No,” Kai said simply.
“Too many worshipping followers?” Unseen said snarkily.
“Yes,” Kai answered, then decided to explain. “They don’t care about my actual opinions. I have told my classmates I don’t care about heroes, but they insist on getting my thoughts on them anyway. They refuse to believe that I don’t like them or to listen to my views on other things.”
Unseen made a disagreeable noise as Aiuchi asked, “And the teachers?”
“They care more about my prospects as a hero than anything I say about my future.”
“Don’t want to be part of the spotlight?” Unseen asked doubtfully.
“No, heroes are useless when it matters most. I want to actually be useful.”
“There are many other helpful professions,” Aiuchi agreed. “You’d make an excellent doctor.”
Kai fought a shiver. “I don’t enjoy germs,” he protested.
“No one likes diseases,” Unseen argued. “Why are you healing people if you don’t like germs?”
“I haven’t been healing sickness,” Kai stressed the last word. “I have been repairing damages.”
“What about a surgeon?” Aiuchi suggested.
“I would still need to treat sick people before becoming one,” Kai said with a shudder.
“Touching all those germ covered people must be hard,” Unseen said, obviously teasing.
“Yes,” Kai said simply.
There was a pause and then Unseen asked, “Why do you do it then?”
“I refuse to stand by as someone dies if I don’t wish them to. Healing people is practice making sure it never happens again.”
“I’m sorry,” it was the sincerest he had ever heard Unseen sound.
Kai shrugged but was saved from responding when their food arrived.
Aiuchi and Unseen started talking about things that had been going on in the Shie Hassaikai. They spoke about marriages, births and how members were doing in school. It was surprisingly mundane and mostly positive.
“There are events for the younger crowd too,” Unseen was saying, her attention turning to Kai. “They would be happy to include you. I’ve had a few people ask if I could invite you.”
“They have?”
Unseen sighed. “Yes, they have. Could I have your phone number? I want to be able to invite you next time.”
Kai hesitated. “You can. If I give it to you, we should share our names.”
“Sure, my name is Miyake Kumi,” she answered easily. “You may call me Kumi.”
“Chisaki Kai,” he answered, then provided his phone number.
He knew this meant that Aiuchi Hiroto heard his name as well, but he found that he didn’t mind. The man truly seemed to care about his yakuza members, young and old. There would be no harm in the man knowing his name.
They spent much longer than Kai had expected talking but he left the restaurant feeling satisfied and looking forward to his new project.