Chapter Text
You sat waiting in a dinky little exam room for your next patient to be sent in and looking over the chart you’d been sent from the nurse who saw him prior, the outdated TV in the corner playing the news, creating some nice white noise in the meantime. A knock at the door alerts you as a mother and her son walk in. Luckily the kid only had a sprained wrist, an easy fix. “Well, you're very brave.” you reassure the kid, who seemed a little embarrassed, and turned to his mother “We’ll send you home with a brace to wear, just take it easy for a few days, okay?”. Swivelling around in your chair towards your draws, you grab a wrist brace and roll back over, fastening the velcro straps.
The child grimaces as you fasten the last of the straps “It's tight..” he whines. “It needs to be tight to support your wrist” you smile apologetically. “If it hurts, loosen it a bit, but not so much that it slides.” You're about to ask his mother if she has any questions, when the TV seems to draw you in.
The camera was obviously from a high-point, and the film was shaky, but you could make out someone familiar.
“- Shigaraki Tomura narrowly escaped the scene, his current whereabouts are still unknown. If you have any information at all don't hesitate to call the authorities. Do not approach under any circumstances -” A ping on the computer snaps you out of it, bringing you back to the present moment.
Now the boy and the mother have turned to look at the TV too. You push back in your chair, grab the remote and shut it off. “Sorry about that” you chuckle nervously. Oh god they seem worried now. Now at your computer, you look over at the kid whose eyes keep flickering up to the TV, you strike up a conversation “Who's your favourite hero?” you smile at him. “All Might!” that seemed to snap him out of it, and his mother seems thankful for the distraction. Nice going, you!
“Snipe’s my favourite but nobody can beat All Might, right?” you say and the boy grins. You look up to his mother again “Ice it at least three times a day, and double up on NSAIDs, the OTC brands will be fine. If he rests properly it should be healed by next week. Is there anything else?” She shakes her head, getting up with her son following close behind, and they both thank you as they leave.
Finally alone, you knock your head against the back of your chair, letting out a breath you didn't know you were holding.
“1 hour till we’re out of here..” Your coworker Kazuo sighs as he swivels back and forth in his chair with his feet up on the front desk. Your pause filling in an intake form to push his legs off, he groans in mild annoyance, this is meant to be a sterile environment! Kazuo was laid back and nice enough, you enjoyed speaking to him but you were never sure if he was on something or just really that unbothered all the time.
Maya, a 16 year old apprentice working as a receptionist, packs up her bag next to you “30 minutes for me, i'm going out to karaoke tonight.” You and Kazuo groan at her. “Don't you have to study? Med school isn't a joke you know.” You tease, though you were still serious. Maya was a popular type and a total gossip but definitely still smart, she's not above partying every night without studying though.
She dramatically rolls her eyes “Oh god you sound just like Ms. Yomuhayai” you both giggle at that. “Chill out..” Kazuo draws out lazily “I barely even focused in med school and look how I turned out.” He attempts to make a grand gesture while still slouched in his chair, making him fall further down. “Yeah you barely focus ever.” Maya scoffs a laugh.
The three of you fell quiet, the bustling hospital halls filling in the still air. Maya, however, seemed antsy, almost allergic to the silence “Sooo.. what are you doing after you’re shift Doctor? Any plans?” Maya leans over towards you with a curious glint in her eye, she's definitely fishing for chit-chat. Unfortunately you don't have anything exciting to tell her.
“I'm staying for a while, I've got to take over some documents to the Health Department” You look up from where you're scribbling on the papers at Maya who's gawking at you like you've grown a second head. “You're choosing to stay after your shift? C’mon, haven't you already been here for like 8 hours?” You barely get to answer before she's talking at you again “You should totally come hang out with me! You’ve got to take a chill-pill girl, c’mon let's party!” She cheers, earning a few looks from passers-by. You politely refuse her offer and an hour later both her and Kazuo are gone, with new nurses and receptionists filling their places.
You set your pen down and get up from behind the front desk, your shoes tapping on the tile floors as you weave your way through the busy halls towards the elevator, occasionally getting stopped by a nurse updating you on a patient and then getting back on track once again. The staff elevator was further into the hospital, secluded so only authorised employees could get to certain areas patients and visitors weren't allowed like the Health Department.
The shiny doors slide open, revealing several other doctors, nurses and suits packed inside. Squeezing your way inside you nestle to the furthest wall, shoulder to shoulder with equally occupied nurses. The door shuts and as someone presses a button. First floor. A handful of nurses shuffle out and a few doctors take their place.
The elevator cheerfully dings again, third floor, off and on.
Ding! Second floor, off and on.
Ding! Fifth floor, off and on.
The crowd somewhat thins overtime. “HD anyone?” a suit calls out to the rest of the elevator, there's a few murmurs of a ‘yes’ and some ‘thank yous’
Ding! Fourth floor. Health Department.
The door slides shut once again, leaving only you. You push down the button labelled ‘Basement, Morgue’
Those bright white fluorescent lights you'd grown so accustomed to fade the deeper you walk in as a familiar chill runs through you. You come to stand in front of a thick iron door, worn from years of neglect. Entering the code with practiced ease, it groans open as you stroll though. Heavy metal doors line the walls, shallow breaths issue from underneath.
As you push open the door at the end of the hall, you’re met with a deep purple light coming from the rows of containers in front of you. Walking past, you glance at the half-formed nomu floating in the purple liquid as they twitch and pulsate with their eyes glossed over.
Stepping over the tangling tubes and wires snaking over the floor, you call out into the lab “Kyudai?”
There's a grunt of acknowledgement a short distance in front of you and walk towards it. Kyudai’s already sat at a spinny chair near the computer with Johnny happily curled up in his lap. You fall into your own and scoot over, bumping him on the way, to give Johnny a little pat. “Anything funny happen when you were working earlier?” You question, still cooing over the grotesque lump of a nomu on his lap. What a cutie!
“Nothing stuck out.” He adjusts his goggles with a grumble. Looking up at him, you see he's almost brooding over something. Oh god, you can see the ‘serious master-student’ talk from a mile away. C’mon! You were waiting to hang out all day!
Removing your hand from Johnny's exposed brains, you lean back in your chair with a furrowed brow. “What's up? If this is about my tests, I promise you it's not a waste of bodies, I know what I'm doing!-”
“It's not that. I've told you already, I trust your judgement, you need to stop worrying about that so much, kid” He lets out a wheezy chuckle.
His response eases you slightly “Then what? I came down here to see you and your acting all serious. It's really killing my mood!” You tease, jabbing him lightly with your elbow.
He guffaws “No you didn't you damn workaholic.” and you giggle. As your laughs taper off, the mood shifts back to the seriousness from before.
“All for one wants to speak with you.”
A sudden stiffness runs across your body at his words. You’d spoken to him before when Kyudai had first taken you in and showed you the ropes, hell- you’ve even helped check his vitals once or twice while the doctor worked on him. Long story short, you didn't like being around him. He's a villain for god's sake! Which seems ironic considering who you're currently sitting next to, but you knew Kyudai!
“Right now?” Your hands mingled together nervously.
“Yep, Johnny will warp you over.” Before you could ask any more questions, grey sludge engulfed your entire body. You loved Johnny with all his repulsiveness but you absolutely hated this part. You take a deep breath and squeeze your eyes shut.
Before you knew it, you were in a different lab, one you’d been in before though had no idea where it was. A chair sat facing away from you, overlooking several gleaming, green screens. You tiptoed over the wires and tubes littering the floor towards it. You and Kyudai really need better cable management.
Knowing that he knew you were there but hasn't said a word put you on edge and you didn't want to see his mutilated face or crooked smile. You stopped just behind his seat.
“There you are. You kept me waiting.”
You mutter an apology “What did you want to talk to me about?”
He got right to the point. “I'm sure you believe The doctor took you in purely for interest in your theories. I'm sorry to say that's not the only thing he saw in you.” He went on “He saw the potential for you to become the next him, to become the faithful servant to the next me.”
You almost choked,”Wh-” He continues, cutting you off.
“Heed my words. If I'm somehow taken out, Tomura will be left unattended, left to lead his league on his own. After that… you’ll be the one left to protect Tomura.”
On the monitor in front of you both, Shigaraki sat at a bar, whiskey in hand, across from Kurogiri with a couple of newer figures you didn't recognise occupying the rest of the space. You’d seen him before, but only ever here or on the news. You couldn't imagine ever seeing him in person. The thought fills you with dread.
“He will fail. And he will fail over and over again until he gets it right. I’ve left him with the resources necessary to retreat into the shadows and rebuild after his shortcomings. You will support him and his new allies in these times. Especially him. As of now he's your centre of attention. Just as I am for the doctor. Do you understand?”
Your chest heaves rapidly. Your centre of attention? Really? Are you really supposed to uproot everything to work for someone like him? You're not a villain! What about all that time you've spent researching and theorising and testing-
“What about-”
“You can continue your experiments. If they come to fruition, the outcome will be a great asset to Tomura. Do you understand?” He repeats.
Your body tightens like a coil, with both fear and anger, but you knew from Kyudai not to fuck around with All for one. You really try to rationalise this decision in your head and eventually you heave a sigh, all tension leaving your body.
Swallowing your pride, you utter “..Yes, I understand.”
“Excellent.”
With that, the thick, sludge swallows you whole once again. Back to Jaku, this time with a lot weighing on your mind.