It was a picturesque late summer day, the sun was shining brighter than All Might's smile and the clouds were fluffier than Fat Gum— Man I should really.. not get into poetry. That was terrible. Nanami thought to herself as she began daydreaming. She'd been cooped up in her office for what felt like ages and the temptation to escape from her office was palpable. She'd call it an escape, but in her defense, she'd chipped away rather efficiently at her mountain of paperwork and her last appointment of the day wasn't for another couple hours. Before the mental argument for frolicking over to the nearby café could be made, she'd already grabbed her keys and purse and was out the door of her office. Walking down the hall, she made small talk and greeted her colleagues and coworkers in passing. It had only been a year and a half since graduating, but she was confident that hearing her name with Dr. in front of it would never get old.
"Well look who decided to leave their cave today…" a distant voice called from behind. The figure coming towards her was waving a bit too enthusiastically for someone who'd just worked 12 hours straight.
" Ha. Ha. How very original ~" she replied dryly.
He stopped at a comfortable distance in front of her and smiled. Forgetting how nice it was to see a friendly face after being cooped up in her office, she reflexively returned a tired smile of her own.
Dr. Tanaka was one of those colleagues who was just cool enough to be considered an actual friend outside of work and after her own, long shift she could use a casual chat with a friend.
"Headed out for a break?" He continued.
"Finally, yes. It's just too nice outside to resist and mama needs a sugar rush. Want to come with?"
"No thanks, I think I'm going to finish my rounds and head home, but if you're looking for sugar, I'd avoid the usual spot. Some petty criminals were caught there earlier so it's cordoned off for the rest of the day."
"Really?" She sighed, annoyed at the inconvenience.
"Yes, really. But, there is a place I passed by this morning that had one of the best mochas I've had in a while, you should try it out and let me know what you think." He replied hopefully seeing her perk up at the mention of anything related to chocolate.
"Well, I'm down to do a little coffee shop research," she replied having already made her order in her head." I'll give it a try."
"There's a good sport. What's the worst that could happen? Here's the address" he texted her the location and an adorable café with way too many sweets popped up—Tanaka was definitely a good friend.
Mentally already at the café, she said her goodbyes and headed out the door, determined to seize what was left of the day and some pastries.
On her way, Nanami decided to take the scenic route. It was about the same distance as her usual spot, just in a different direction. Having already mentally noted the directions, she took the opportunity to really appreciate what she'd been missing. All the sounds and sights of a peaceful Friday afternoon. People walking about on errands, the sound of kids playing in the park nearby, and the smell of something amazing letting her know she was headed in the right direction. A creaking noise broke her out of her reverie and she looked up to see a load of large steel beams being moved by a crane. It seemed way too risky to be moving such large materials in a place that densely populated, but she figured they had to build it somehow and continued on her journey.
After another block she turned the corner, spotting her destination. Walking in, she was thankful the atmosphere matched the photos and had already planned on thanking Tanaka for such a solid recommendation. The barista actually looked like she was enjoying her job and cheerily informing her that the pastry she'd picked was baked fresh every day in-house to complement their homemade syrups. Could this day get any better?
While waiting for her order, Nanami got a text that her appointment needed to come in earlier, and she'd need to return to the office soon. Eh, that's alright, I'll still have 30 minutes to enjoy the food on the walk back. The barista called her name and she hurriedly picked up her order, assuring them she'd be back again.
One foot already in another daydream, she leisurely made the walk back to the hospital, taking in the sights. The people eating in the bistro, the smell of flowers in the local shop, the sound of the wires creaking and buckling above the strange man in the alley behind the restricted worksite tape… Hold up.
Oh shit. Nanami thought to herself, already exasperated.
As much as people called doctors heroes, she wasn't that type of hero. Her quirk just wasn't meant for that kind of work. However, judging by how precariously the beam was dangling above his head, she thought she might need to reconsider. Before she could finish her internal conflict, her feet were moving. If I could just get in range to yell at him, he might be able to get out of the way in time. Maybe. Did she really want to take that gamble with a stranger's life though? She knew the answer before it was asked, pressing forward towards the site.
He was across the street and she hopped over the guard rails, thanking her lucky stars she took a passing interest in parkour that one year in college. Just as she cleared the rail, the cord holding the beam snapped. Her heart sunk, knowing what she'd have to do. Unless he had a speed quirk, she was his only chance. She and her quirk...
Revamp? No, that sounds lame. Renovate? Okay well now I just sound like I have some weird home improvement power—but enough of that. Focus, girl.
He heard the beam falling and glanced upwards, his expression making it clear that he knew it was too late to use whatever quirk he had to get out of it. Right before the look of acceptance could settle onto his face, she jumped beside him, her hand stretched upwards towards the beam. Her fingertip and the metal made contact for a split second and then… "clink". A thousand more tiny clinking noises followed soon after. She'd done it.
Though disassembling the beam into a thousand tiny nuts wasn't amazing per se, it beat turning it into a plume of toxic dust for passerby's to inhale or disassembling the beam into two and risking the halves falling into other street or a nearby building. Judging by the very alive man next to her, she'd say she did a pretty good job for a not-hero.
It seemed as if the alley was closed off enough that thankfully no one else on the street noticed and the construction workers would take a few minutes to get down to where they assumed the beam would have landed. Now came the hard part: Making sure no one knew exactly what happened and that I was ever here.
Nanami was very secretive of her quirk. She used it sparingly to help people and perform everyday tasks with a bit of convenience, but deep down she knew it had the potential to be something else. She'd learned the hard way to keep it in check and avoid overindulging. Only her parents and her closest friends knew what it was and even then, she did her best to downplay it. Especially after the incident.
She snapped out of her inner monologue to see a very shocked man standing next to her, staring at her as if he'd seen something that was both extraordinary, yet familiar. He was a little taller than her but seemed close to her in age. He was wearing what appeared to be a stark white raincoat and had distinctive, pointy hair—not just pointy, she noted, there's whole arrows at the end. Quirks really produce some interesting phenotypes…
Remembering that she needed to remedy the situation and get back to the office as soon as humanly possible, she broke the silence.
"Uhhhm, hi. Are you alright?" she began nervously.
"How did you ..." He still looked like he had seen a ghost, but she needed this interaction to end before the construction workers came and started asking questions.
"Look, I know this must be a bit jarring, but I really need to go. Will you be alright until someone else arrives?" She quickly realized being both direct and smooth was more difficult than she'd imagined.
An emotion she couldn't put a name to flashed across his face and he recomposed himself.
"Could I at least know your name to thank you?" He asked innocently.
"Oh no, you don't have to thank me. But if you really want to—just do me a solid and promise me you'll keep this between the two of us, please?" She antsy and almost pleading, knowing the workers and passerby's curious about the missing giant beam and metal rain could come by at any second.
He paused and she could tell he wanted to say more but didn't. "Of course, thank you for you hel—"
With the verbal confirmation that her secret was seemingly safe, she ran like the wind out of the vicinity and back to the safety of her office. After recollecting herself, she realized her treats had gotten lost in the melee and her pockets were now full of various nuts and bolts. No wonder why it was so hard to run... she thought to herself, emptying out 10-15lbs of bolts from her coat pockets. Looks like I won't need to go to the hardware store for a while…
She quickly shrugged it off and walked into her appointment, already plotting to do nothing but sip some wine at home and chastise herself for not being more discreet about using her quirk.
As Chronostasis was inspecting the sight of the Hassakai's latest development, he had lost himself completely in thought. By the time he realized his error he was sure it was too late. He had never used his quirk on an object that large and in that moment of hesitation he feared the worst. Then in an instant, a woman stood beside him under the falling beam and did what he'd only seen one other person do before: Overhaul. With a single touch she disassembled the object and reformed it into something else. Perhaps it was a fluke, he considered, but if so, why did she seem so desperate to keep it a secret? As she bolted before he could finish his sentence, he followed her silently a few blocks before she entered a nearby hospital.
After reconfirming with himself what he'd seen, he made a prompt call, forgoing the usual formality in his calm urgency.
"We need to talk. Now."