Cure Part Two

"Are you ready, young Aiko?" The Doctor asked, the screen flickering ominously. The Doctor's face was clouded in shadow and his grin sparkling in what little light the computer could offer.

"Damn this WiFi..." Shigaraki grumbled to himself, tapping the screen of his phone. "I can't get your screen to connect..."

"And the power's out here. This storm is restless." The Doctor sighed. Outside, a powerful thunderstorm growled violently.

Aiko stood by, preparing for what was to come.

The Doctor was going to replace her Affinity with a different quirk, one that wouldn't max out her body's capacity for quirks.

I wonder what quirk I'll pick, she thought.

Shigaraki would be coming too, though his operation would take more than just two weeks. He was going to be gone for three whole months. Though he hadn't told anyone what the operation instilled, something felt...off. Aiko could almost sense nervousness radiating off of the stoic villain.

"No matter," The Doctor continued. "I'll have Johnny teleport you over."

"Goodbye Aiko!" Himiko gave her little sister a big hug.

"Pick a good quirk, alright?" Dabi winked at the feathered-girl. "Not something lame, like, I dunno, confetti hands."

Aiko mentally snapped her fingers. How'd he guess her number one choice?!

"I saw the list." Dabi smirked and Aiko sent him a playful glare.

"Stop wasting my time," Shigaraki scowled at Aiko. "Let's go. Doctor?"

"Already on it," The Doctor activated the miniature Nomu on his lap and both Aiko and Shigaraki were transported to the Doctor's dark lab.

"Tomura, you may wait in the room down the hall while I prepare young Aiko." The Doctor gestured to the door.

The Doctor rode his sliding chair beside Aiko as he lead her down the opposite hallway.

The hallway then opened up into a massive laboratory. The walls were stocked with bubbling blue light and the center of the room was lined with large tanks. Inside the tanks, shadowy, black figures floated ominously. Aiko walked up to one to get a better look, then backed away promptly.

"A-Are those-?" Aiko felt her heart beat quicken.

"They are a specialized version of the Nomu you met all those months ago," The Doctor explained, rolling up to one of the desks.

"Like-like Teruo?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. Like Teruo." The Doctor sighed, he was still rather disappointed that the subject had been apprehended. "Now, for our first order of business, you need to select a quirk from our collection."

"How am I supposed to pick from all these?" Aiko gestured to the blue bottles on the walls.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"I don't want anything that could hurt me...or anyone else." Aiko said.

"Well, that does narrow down your search a bit," The Doctor tapped his keyboard a bit and the quirk listings that had appeared dwindled down to only five choices.

"All the quirks here are that dangerous?!" Aiko stood in shock.

"Well, All for One uses the quirks mainly for offensive purposes, so, yes." The Doctor shrugged. "Now take a look."

Aiko made her way up to the screen. There were five options.

Nightlight

Confetti Hands

Skin Care

Absotion

Speed Read

"What's Nightlight do?" She asked, pointing to the first on the list.

"It allows the user to emit a soft white light from their eyes, making it so that the user has night vision, while also acting as a flashlight for their allies." The Doctor explained.

"And what about-ooh! Confetti Hands!" Aiko was very surprised that her number one choice was on there. Though Dabi did say it was lame. "What's Speed Read? And Skin Care?"

"Speed Read allows the user to read at unfathomable speeds, taking in information quickly. And Skin Care just keeps the user's skin silky smooth and healthy for their entire life." All for One went through a pretty-boy phase, to say the least, he thought.

Finally, Aiko laid eyes on the last quirk. "What's that one do?"

"Absotion is a rather powerful quirk that permits the user to absorb anyone's emotions, negative or otherwise. The user is then inflicted with this emotion for a short period of time." The Doctor eyed Aiko from behind his large round glasses.

Take away emotions? Aiko thought. I could take away Eri's insecurities and worries. My uncle's hate for me. Teruo's pain and his daughter's sadness...

"I choose..." Aiko scanned the list once more and came to a decision. "This one."

"Thank you both for meeting with me," Tsukauchi began, sitting down across from Izuku and All Might.

"So let's review," All Might started. His detective friend pulled out a thick case file with Aiko's face planted across it.

"Aiko Aoki," Izuku read. "A mysterious girl who began appearing all over the place recently. Having a direct relationship with multiple incidents regarding villains, especially the League."

"And all the correlations that we discovered still aren't solid proof. Each of them could still be chalked up to a coincidence." Tsukauchi frowned. "I even asked her if her name was really Aiko Aoki, and she confirmed. She wasn't lying."

"That would cross out any chance of her being a League member in disguise," All Might concluded.

"Her quirk is called Affinity, and it allows her access to anyone's quirk with whom she has a relationship."

"And it was proven recently that the bubble monster that attacked her elementary school was in fact, defeated by burns."

"Not to mention, when we asked Eri about it, she just said that Aiko's quirk was some kind of flame quirk, which means Aiko hadn't told Eri about the true nature of her quirk until that day at the hospital." Izuku thought allowed.

"There would be no need for that unless she was attempting to hide something."

"Yes, and as Midoriya and I observed yesterday, young Aiko has access to a quirk that is dangerously similar to Tomura Shigaraki's." All Might confirmed.

"If that's the case, we can confidently conclude that she most definitely has had repeated contact with some of the League members." Tsukauchi folded his hands over the file.

"If that really is true, then what is she doing with them? Is she a spy?" Izuku frowned. "She's only nine years old! Whatever they did to her, it can't be good."

"Perhaps they're blackmailing her? Making her spy for them in exchange for something or someone dear to her?" All Might couldn't keep the fiery contempt from sparking in his blue eyes.

"I didn't want to suggest this, but it seems very likely..." Tsukauchi grimaced. "What if, they are using her to get a copy of Eri's quirk? As a way to harvest her cells and create more of those quirk erasing bullets?"

The three sat in silence for awhile, trying to take in the devastating possibility.

"Tha-that's horrible..." Izuku managed to say.

"The problem is that we can't jump in and save her like we did for Eri." All Might said. "If the League is confident enough that they'd allow Aiko so much freedom, they must have something of her's that is so precious she wouldn't dare defy them."

"So we have to tread carefully, one misstep and the League might find out what we know and hurt Aiko." Tsukauchi furrowed his brow in thought.

"And her two elder brother and sister?" All Might said. "Should we assume that they really were Dabi and Toga in disguise?"

"To think," Izuku bit back an angry grimace. "She keeps up such a cheery persona all the time. When in reality, she's been in so much fear and pain."

"I can't imagine," Tsukauchi said. "No wonder she and Eri got along so well, though this truly is evil."

"You said her birth parents are a complete mystery? As well as her family? Except for the mention of her father once at the hospital?" All Might asked.

"Yes, that is what Izuku relayed to me," Tsukauchi explained. "It makes me so frustrated that something like unknown parents could so easily slip past authority officials in the area."

"Perhaps her father is what the League is using as leverage?" Izuku suggested.

"That very well may be," Tsukauchi confirmed.

The silence returned and each person sat in deep thought.

"I can't just leave her to suffer like that," Izuku finally said. "But what can we do?"

"Our most logical course of action would be to take our time. Like we said, we are on thin ice," Tsukauchi stared down at Aiko's case file. "As much as I hate to admit it, but Aiko may have to hold out for us little while longer. Until we can solidify our suspicions and form a plan."

"Young Midoriya, you are a kind boy with a heart of gold," All Might gave Izuku a serious look. "And I know that you tend to see Aiko often, but you must remain level-headed and keep out of it until we can really take action."

"B-but-"

"Midoriya, please understand-"

"I do. I really do understand, All Might. I'm just not sure if I'll be able to-" Izuku felt his eyes full with tears. "If I had just recognized the signs in the shopping district, instead of handing her over to Dabi obliviously. It-it's like what happened with Eri is happening all over again, and it's all my fault."

"Listen, it's never your fault, my boy. Remember that. The only thing you can do now is wait and know that your chance to fix things will come again." All Might placed his thin hands on Izuku's shoulders.

"O-ok..." Izuku took a deep breath, wiping away his tears.

"I will take this up with my colleagues and the police force," Tsukauchi stood up, gathering his things. "And hopefully we can gather an investigation team and some pros."

The detective rounded the table and placed one of his hands on Izuku's shoulder as well.

"I promise we'll save her, Midoriya." The detective gave the green-haired boy the most reassuring smile he could muster and received a thankful, watery-eyed mumble back.

I will save her! Izuku repeated in his head. And this kind of thing won't ever happen again!

"Poof!" Aiko released a spray of confetti upon her best friends.

"Whoa!" Eri giggled, catching one of the thin, colorful leaflets in her hands.

"So the procedure worked well?" Kota asked, cupping a handful of rainbow paper in his hands.

"Yup! I've got Confetti Hands now!" Aiko released another spray.

"That's great, Aiko!" Eri looked happier than Aiko had ever seen her.

"I'm so glad you're happy!" Aiko wrapped her arms around Eri, squeezing her horned-friend tightly. She felt a twinge of guilt for not choosing Absotion, in order to help Eri, but she knew Confetti could still light up anyone's face.

"Me too," Eri smiled.

"I guess I'm happy too," Kota muttered, feeling a little left out.

"And I love that too!" Aiko turned on him and tackled Kota in a massive bear hug. Eri joined in and they all had one big group hug.

"Wait, Aiko, what'll your hero name be? Now that you don't have Affinity?" Kota asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure!" Aiko tapped her chin. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

And that's that! This was a rather fun chapter! I'm so excited to write the next one and beyond!

(PS. This isn't the last you'll see of Affinity!)