Change of Touch

Chapter 1: Peculiar

POV: Yours

Warnings: None


The taxi arrived at the desired destination. I stepped out and took a sight of a two-story brick building. My white coat, luckily wasn't stained with the blood that old man hacked up, otherwise it'd be insanely unprofessional of me.

I've been trained with the mentality that, as a doctor, I have some principles to meet. To present yourself professionally, at least my white coat needs to be clean. If I looked as if I was in some scuffle or some shit, I would have probably scared the shit out of my patients.

...I could go on with the list, but it all becomes so "Type A personality" to the point of bother. Guess I wasn't supposed to cuss while talking either, but whatever.

As I stepped foot into the building, I've been greeted by a blond, glasses-wearing man. "Kunikida Doppo, doctor."

"I'm glad to have met you, Kunikida," I said as I've bowed, unknowing of my age versus his. "Dr. (y/n) at your service. I've been told that your leader is succumbed to a terminal illness." By then I realized the Blowpop is still stuck in my mouth being suckled by me. I tried to keep it professional, but at the same time it seems I appeared probably lax.

"Yes, correct. If you may, please follow me." I followed the blond spectacle-wearing male up the staircase into a dimly lit hallway that shortly led me to the room where a group of peculiar folks crowded around a bed. Since he didn't have any expression of judgment, I continued onwards eating my lollipop until the door had opened.

The patient in the bed looked as though he has been malnourished and was near death. This silver-haired elder seemed to not move as much of an inch since I've come to this room, and yet his eyes are still open.

The company he was crowded within didn't take notice of my presence. One was wearing a beret, with his face buried into the blankets at the edge of the bed with heavy tears in his face. Two more young boys about his age, an orange haired boy with a sweater tied to his waist and a blond, shorter boy in overalls, stood next to him with arms folded firmly and faces shown grim. A white-haired boy sat on the opposite side of the bed staring blankly at the ground below him, and a taller short-haired woman tried to adjust the IVs attached to the main patient the bed. She seemed as though she was also a professional as well as I decided to take another step forward to engage in conversation.

"Hello there, my fine young princess!" A rambunctiously loud voice came out from behind me surprisingly enough to make me and everyone else jump. I immediately turned to a pair of maroon eyes that belonged to a brunette trench-coated guy.

"Wai-… what?" I couldn't understand the situation I was in! What the hell? You nearly gave me a big shock, asshole, and almost made me choke on my pop.

"Or should I have called you Dr. (Y/n)?" The man spoke. How does he know my name already? My name tag isn't even on me today.

"How-"

"-did I know your name? I have connections to the Special Operations Division, and I called for some help. Surprising to say, I did not expect them to send over a lovely, young maiden such as yourself to come to us." He took closer steps towards you and slowly reached out his right arm to meet your shoulder. "Would you mind if we can-"

"That's enough Dazai, you're scaring her." Kunikida softly slapped his arm away with his notebook. "Anyway, before this idiot starts going off tangents, the man you see in this bed is Fukuzawa Yukichi, the leader of our company. We have contacted many allying organizations for their medical assistance, yet no one was able to help. Even Dr. Yosano, a healing-ability user, could not assist without coming into contact with the actual disease. Whether or not your assistance does cure the president, your services are welcome."

"Kunikida, you're giving the fair lady less hope in doing her work when you should be celebrating the fact that the president is going to be A-O.K. after she treats him." The brunette spoke as if he knew the results already, as he was probably the only one in the room showing the least worry for the patient in bed. It was only that time did I actually see his face from the gleam of light shining onto him from the window… but never mind that, there is a terminally ill patient in this room.

"Alright, I am honored to help you all and assist in your president's recovery." I took steps forward towards the bed near the short haired Dr. Yosano and tossed the remnant of my lollipop away in the trash bin next to the bed. "Hello, doctor. Can you assist me in assessing the patient?"

"Will do," she replied.

"What medications has he been on?"

"Just the saline IV at this point."

"What medical symptoms or conditions have you observed?"

"His core temperature is over 103 degrees, his breathing has been shorter, and if we're speaking in long terms he's losing a lot of weight."

"Has there been any sign of syncope or nausea?"

"Every now and then in the case of nausea, but the patient has been spewing bloodied mucus into the bin the past couple days. He's also been wheezing as well."

"I see. What do you conclude on your medical judgment?"

Dr. Yosano's expression tensed as she came to her conclusion. "Based on the state of disease and multiple test results, the persistent mucus and shortness of breath is good indication of cystic fibrosis."

I smiled. "Looks like we're on the same page then, doctor." I gave her a pair of latex gloves to wear for the next procedure. "Dr. Yosano, we are going to have to hold him down for this procedure. I don't know how long this will take, but I'm willing to give it a try."

"Understood," she nodded. I wasn't sure how far I could go with this power, as there was no other technical options to pick when taking care of him.

"Arghhh!" The president hacked out a large amount of mucus into the trash bin and the men around him stood in concern. Fukuzawa clenched his neck where his collarbone was and started to grasp for air. Immediately it's become so critical to the point of asphyxiation.

"Dr. Yosano, have everyone hold him down. If I can use my ability in time, I can still save him."

"Roger. Everyone hold the president down!" The males in the room crowded the bed as Fukuzawa struggled violently to grasp for air.

"President!" the beret male yelled. "Stay strong, please!"

I closed my eyes as my right hand hovered over the main site of his body causing the disease: the lungs, his respiratory tract. My hand glowed and my eyes glistened. In my vision, I can see everything from the branches of the alveoli to the cells in the mucus to the mutated DNA strands causing the disease. Chromosome 7, it's been causing mutations everywhere in his tract, I can see it all!

I took a deep breath and activated my powers. "Ability: Linking Paths."

Slowly, I can see myself individually mutating the mutation to a normal state, with one new DNA replicating again and again and multiplying at faster speeds. With just one mutation, cells and tissues vastly returned to normal state and the struggle the patient faced in breathing began to subside.

"Regenerate and release!" With that, my power has subsided and the glow has dimmed. The company around the patient's bed gazed at me with such wide eyes, comprehending what just happened and speechless at the thought.

"WOW!" The brunette exclaimed. "It's just as I said, Kunikida, there's no need to worry! She's incredibly perfect and so is the president!"

Weird, I thought. I looked away from him and noticed the president sitting up on his own, breathing in so deeply and hungrily that he managed to produce a burp. The company bursted into laughter at his unexpected behavior. I smiled in joy at the site of the company bombarding him with so many hugs and tears.

"Now, now," the president calmed. "Let's not get our hopes up. Thank you, doctor, for helping me with my ailment."

"It was nothing really!" I gave off a shy blush of red, oblivious to the brunette staring at me from the side. "It's just my ability, I guess… Just for assurance, I'd like to have Dr. Yosano run a few tests on you now that you're recovering."

"Nevertheless, doctor, your gift is a grand talent. Thank you." He bowed his head towards you and you couldn't help but accept it in a flush.

"I have to admit, you're not so bad of a doctor," Yosano chimed in. "I've read up on some articles about you and by you, and I am impressed by your work."

"All that work? I'm just glad I'm still young!" We laughed.

"Anyway," Kunikida joined in. "I would like to extend my thanks to you and wish you best of luck on your- "

"WAIT, KUNIKIDA!" Dazai, I believe, jumped in as well. "We need to have a celebration for this genius beaut- I mean, have a celebration for Fukuzawa's full recovery!"

"Dazai! Yosano-san hasn't even conducted any tests yet to confirm this. Plus, this is no time for parti-"

"I'm happy for the thought, Dazai," I gleamed towards him. "But we got to make sure of his health first. Oh, I forgot; I usually like to give this to my patients regardless of a-" I was trying to reach into my medical supply case for my bag of Sees pops and then realized that it went missing.

"Looking for this, (y/n)?" Dazai held onto the bag of pops. "I wanted to grab some for myself too…"

Way to drop the honorifics, I thought. "Fine, take some for yourself," I said in a kiddish tone. "Everyone here is more than welcome to take one as well! I have plenty at home, and I don't mind restocking from the night market here."

After I said that, Dazai hid the bag in his trench-coat and played around with the others who wanted some. I couldn't help but laugh at every action he made.


It was raining hard at 11PM and everyone except for Yosano, the beret boy named Ranpo, and the president left the hospital like room and went home. I'm mentally drained from just curing two people today, and I just want to go to bed.

After a long talk with Kunikida regarding the transaction with the Special Ops, I began my walk down the street with my tiny umbrella. It appeared that Dazai was just exiting the building the same time as me.

"(Y/n)!" Dazai called out. He caught up to me to get under the umbrella and asked, "Would you like me to walk you home?"

Home? Oh yes. It's been a while since I've come back to Yokohama, for the last time I was here, grandmother was still around to watch over me. But years have passed since I've been by that manor and it may have been sold by now. Earlier, I considered finding a hotel to sleep in for a few days while getting some of my work done and finding a place to stay, but balancing stuff like that out is sadly trivial to me, like I need a whole day to research on new places. But I can't hate myself now. The question as of now is just why he'd ask me to have him walk me home when I just met him today...

A blush formed on my cheek as I replied, remembering his attractive features of his face. "Well, this is so sudden.." I looked away in shyness until an unwrapped Sees lollipop was shoved into my face.

"So I take that as a yes?" Dazai pops it into his mouth, yet the sound of suckling was overcome by the rain hitting the umbrella.

For now, "I guess. I don't really have a legitimate home to go to though..."

"Really now?" Dazai widened his eyes in surprise. "For a renowned doctor like you, I would've thought that you'd have like some mansion here." I pouted at his slight mocking. "Cute, but nonetheless, I wouldn't mind you staying at my place while you get yourself settled. After all, you did just arrive here today, right?" He grinned.

Wait, so far, how does he already know a good amount about me? I never gave him a proper greeting, I never told him that I just got off a plane, and... well. Then again, maybe the Gifted Special Ops told him. But aside from that, despite the peculiar nature of Dazai, I complied as the only thing in my mind was sleep. Just sleep. Nothing else at this point, because I'm done thinking for now. On the other hand currently, the brunette was energetically satisfied with my answer for some weird reason. Also... just as he did with my bag of candy, he managed to swipe away my umbrella from my hand without me realizing it. Wow.

"I'm so glad!" He rejoiced. He began pondering aloud many random things from how happy he has a guest like me coming over to my experience in America. His slight mentions of suicide were a little concerning but ignoring them felt at best after possibly thinking it as a joke, but then the next thing made me freak the hell out.

"(Y/n), as beautiful as you are genius, would you like to do a double suicide with me?" He asked, with both hands holding the umbrella and my hands. His eyes shone a quick glimmer of crimson as the corners of his lips formed a blissful smile.

...I was at a loss for words. "What the fuck…?"


Hi again readers! As of now, I'm currently having a writers block as to how this story is going to go (as well as my other story) especially since I'm actually going off a made up character and not branching off an actual story plot, so I'm open to ideas! Please R&R!