Chapter 11 Lightning Serenade
The examiner excused himself to talk to Denki and Touya about whether or not they wanted to participate in some tests to figure out what might be happening between Hitoshi's quirk and their soulmate bond.
The examiner called Denki out of the group room and into the hallway first.
Denki had sluggishly forced himself up from the chair he was sitting at with Touya, going over the different muscle groups and in which order to work through them and how many days of rest each muscle group would need before working it again. Denki was worn out from the training earlier, and the mental anguish he put himself through until he was sure that Hitoshi forgave him for unknowingly knowing that he had had a nightmare the night before. He didn't even have it in him to be anxious that he might be in trouble and just dragged his feet out into the hallway where yet another adult needed to speak to him.
"Kaminari Denki, correct?" the examiner asked.
Denki looked around the hallway. Was this a test to see if he remembered not to disclose his family name?
"Uh…" he stupidly stalled.
"Oh!" the examiner corrected. "I'm from the testing side of the facility, not the mental health side. I just need to confirm that I'm talking to the right person," he explained, remembering that the patients are prohibited from sharing personal details with each other and putting the young boy's mind at ease.
"Yeah… that's me…" Denki answered hesitantly.
The examiner wondered if this was a good idea, watching Denki fidget under his gaze. The examiner wasn't an intimidating man, which made him perfect for his job, but this young boy still shifted under his perceived authority.
The examiner still had a job to do, so he started explaining who he was and that he would be the one conducting and observing the tests that Neito and Hitoshi would be put through.
Denki perked up at the mention of his friends and tried to focus on what the examiner was saying, relaxing as the examiner discussed the testing his friends would be going through and the need for extra participants to use their quirks on. Denki did wonder why he was being privy to this information. He was just another patient on the unit. He wasn't any kind of authority or even a close friend of the soulmates, so why was their examiner coming to discuss any of this with him?
"So, what I want to ask, and what I want you to think carefully about before answering, is this: Will you be a participant for the study between Hitoshi and Neito?"
"Yeah! Sure!" Denki answered without hesitation, bouncing on his feet in anticipation of helping his new friends.
The examiner was surprised that the timid, anxious boy moments earlier had developed a healthy spark in his eye and literally bounced in place as he quickly agreed without even having any details or asking any clarifying questions.
"Denki, I asked you to think carefully, first," the examiner reminded, trying to make Denki think this through before agreeing.
"I want to help my friends," Denki said simply with a shrug, hoping that the examiner wouldn't get mad that he wasn't slowing down to think it through.
The truth was, Denki didn't have to think it through. He would do anything for his new friends, and he would feel damn heroic while doing it, too!
"You'll be put under Hitoshi's brainwashing quirk," the examiner clarified, desperately trying to make this 12-year-old boy understand what was being asked of him.
"Oh yeah! Sounds great! When do we start?" Denki asked, looking around the hallway to see if he could catch a glimpse of the soulmate duo.
"If you don't want to do it, I can tell them that your parents said you couldn't," the examiner offered. The examiner doubted that Denki was only saying yes in fear of letting his friends down, but he needed to cover all of the bases.
"My parents said that I could do it?" Denki asked, eyes widening as he looked right at the examiner, gaze filled with surprised wonder.
"Your mother gave permission," the examiner informed him.
"Wow!" Denki exclaimed, smile growing even bigger now that he knew that he wasn't trying to sign up for something that his parents might disapprove of. "I'm in! Let's do it!"
"Okay," the examiner sighed in resignation, but couldn't help the smile creeping along his face due to Denki's contagious excitement. "But please be aware that you can stop participating at any time. You're allowed to change your mind at any time, and you won't be in any trouble at all."
When Denki nodded his agreement, still buzzing with newfound energy, the examiner called for Touya next. The examiner failed to hide his surprise at Touya's stature. With all of the other pre-teens running around, the near-adult towered over the examiner and had an intimidating aura shocked his system a little bit. The examiner plastered a smile on his face anyway, and continued with his job, even though he couldn't see why the soulmates would want a ray of sunshine like Denki and a looming teenager like Touya to both help them out. They seemed like polar opposites, but he had a job to do.
He did start to understand why they wanted Touya pretty quickly, though.
Touya's icy stare gave rapt attention as the examiner explained that he was from the testing side of the facility as compared to the mental health treatment side and that he was assigned to be working with the soulmates on the unit. Touya nodded along, showing his understanding and active listening, but that didn't really calm the examiner at all.
When the examiner asked Touya if he would be interested in participating in the studies, he expected a no. He did not expect Touya to suddenly relax his posture, falling against the wall as he exhaled, a smile taking over his face.
"They both want me to help?" he inquired.
The examiner couldn't decide if the smile was genuine or mischievous, probably because it was a little bit of both. Touya was delighted that the soulmates would ask this of him. He was relieved that they seemed to enjoy his company as much as he had been enjoying theirs, even with the intense training session that very morning.
"Yes. They both recommended that I ask you if you would be willing to help them out," the examiner offered.
"I'm assuming Endeavor has already agreed to my participation," Touya drawled, waiting for the affirmative head nod from the examiner. "And Denki is participating as well?" Touya asked, already guessing at the answer but also still needing to know for sure.
"Yes, he is. If you don't want to participate, we can always tell them that Endeavor said—"
"I'm in," Touya declared simply, pushing himself off of the wall and standing straight in front of the examiner, waiting for his next instructions.
"Okay," the examiner agreed hesitantly, unsure if this teenager would actually be of any help or if he would hinder the study. "You can also back out at any time without any consequences."
Touya laughed at that, throwing his head back before looking the examiner dead in the eyes, challenge glinting in his own icy blue eyes.
"Like I would ever back down from a challenge!" Touya declared.
In the conference room, as soon as the door shut behind the examiner as he exited to talk to the potential participants, Neito turned toward Hitoshi.
A thought had been at the forefront of his mind since he himself had put Denki under Hitoshi's quirk: Maybe Hitoshi would be less fearful of his own quirk if he knew what it felt like himself.
"Can I try putting you under your quirk?" Neito asked.
"What?" Hitoshi asked, though he heard him just fine, turning toward him with wide eyes. "You want to brainwash me?"
"Well, yeah. Don't you want to know what it feels like?" Neito asked, genuinely curious of Hitoshi's answer.
"Kind of… but…" Hitoshi trailed off, looking away in apprehensive thought.
"But nothing!" Neito pushed. "I've been under, and Denki has been under, and you don't seem to understand just how amazing your quirk is. Everyone else is wrong, Hitoshi! Your quirk isn't something to fear. Let me show you what it feels like, okay?"
Neito held out his hand in offering for Hitoshi to transfer his quirk over to him but didn't try to make the contact himself. This wouldn't help Hitoshi if he wasn't allowed to make the choice for himself.
Hitoshi took a deep breath, and put his hand in Neito's, giving permission for Neito to copy his quirk.
"I trust you," Hitoshi confirmed, nodding with intent when Neito glanced at him to make sure that he was certain.
Neito smirked, and asked, "what was that?"
"I trust you," Hitoshi repeated with a small smile, knowing full well that Neito's question was perfectly loaded with the brainwashing quirk and answering without hesitation anyway.
Neito's torso filled with warmth, even as he shot the quirk forward to envelop Hitoshi's brain, going much smoother than even the time before with Denki. Neito was proud of his progress already with Hitoshi's complex quirk, but the warm feeling of being trusted and accepted evidenced by Hitoshi's unwavering answer to his question, even as he knew he could tell that Neito had activated his quirk… that feeling overshadowed everything, and he made a mental note to always, always, always answer Hitoshi. Neito wanted Hitoshi to feel like this all of the time. So many people were afraid of his potential that he might not be getting these automatic responses from anywhere else, so he must be able to trust his soulmate to always respond verbally, whether the question was primed with quirk or not.
The haze settled over Hitoshi's mind and vision, and he relaxed into it, knowing that he was in good hands. He watched Neito as his eyes scanned over him. Hitoshi was completely at his mercy, but Neito had nothing but kindness and happiness in his eyes as he allowed Hitoshi to settle into the feeling of control being taken away from him. It wasn't nearly as bad as Hitoshi feared it was. He knew he never physically hurt people with his quirk, but until Denki and Neito, he always scared them. They would panic and fear him afterwards, always hesitant to talk to him, even when he wasn't asking any questions.
When Neito gave the command laced with quirk to stand up, Hitoshi's body responded automatically. It jumpstarted his heart, but he quickly calmed again.
Hitoshi figured out, then, that his quirk was something to fear, but only if whoever was under it feared whoever was wielding it. Hitoshi trusted Neito not to make him do anything harmful, so it really wasn't terrible. It was kind of freeing, actually. Hitoshi always had to feel in control, and to give the control up to someone else, to allow his soulmate to take over the control instead, was a breath of fresh air. It felt like an emotional reset in a way.
Hitoshi filled with warmth when he realized what this meant.
All of those people who freaked out and fought back feared not his quirk, but him. That sucked, but trust isn't inherent, so it was understandable.
However, two people, Neito and Denki, allowed him to take control and didn't fight it or freak out. That means two whole people trust Hitoshi. To further the amazement, he didn't really give them a reason to trust him. They just trusted him automatically. Was it just some sort of predestined connection that allowed the trust to just naturally be there already? That would make sense for Neito, but not Denki. Did they see something in him that was trustworthy? Maybe. If Touya was allowed to participate and allowed him to take control and didn't freak out, maybe that would be the answer.
"Thanks, Neito," Hitoshi had whispered, still in a state of awe when Neito allowed the quirk to dissipate.
Neito had never felt more heroic.