"I will say this," Recovery Girl began as she tossed her gloves into the bin, having finished her examination of her charge. The situation was highly unusual so she made sure to be as thorough as she could to make sure that everything had been done safely. "Whoever treated you was thorough and precise, even if they were self-taught."
"Self-taught? Is it really that easy to tell?" Yamada Hizashi's voice was slightly muffled since he was putting his shirt back on. It was a meticulous process since he was still sore, but at least after a round of Recovery Girl's healing kiss it was far less painful than it was when he left the Bunker. One more session and he'd be good as new.
"It is if you've been doing this as long as I have." There was a smirk in her eyes. "The techniques and methods used are not incorrect , so-to-speak, but they are a bit outdated. Even then, they're not executed in a way you'd expect to see. I'd wager that they were never shown how to perform these procedures and based their work off of written descriptions and pictures."
"So it would be as if they were looking at an older textbook for reference rather than hands-on instruction?"
The elderly hero nodded. "That's one possibility." She picked up the paperwork that Yamada was given when he left that unlicensed medical facility. "These notes are very detailed. Every action taken to treat you was documented, even the ones that weren't really necessary to write down. They clearly haven't been taught what information they need or don't need to report so they are going overboard to cover their bases."
Hizashi took the papers for closer inspection. He hadn't given himself the opportunity to really review them before. He usually got motion sickness if he tried to read anything in a moving vehicle and he wasn't exactly in the mood to really deal with that on their way back to UA. The written notes had crisp handwriting as if they were made to be as legible as possible. They were even color-coded for added clarity. The Voice Hero couldn't really say anything one way or another about their actual contents as medical sciences weren't exactly his area of expertise, but there certainly seemed to be a lot here for what little work had been done on him. He could only imagine how much there'd be for more complicated cases like that poor sap who apparently tried to tussle with Endeavor.
"If you want my opinion," Recovery Girl said after she had given him a minute with the paperwork. "I think this is a college student, one eager for medical school but hasn't gotten there. I can't say if it's because they haven't reached that point yet or if they didn't get in for whatever reason. Either way, this could be dangerous. Good intentions or no, there's a reason we don't allow people to perform medical procedures without a license. Since this Bunker is underground, we can't track anything to keep them accountable for their mistakes and avoidable deaths."
"That's what I've been thinking too. I get why villains and vigilantes like the service. It's discrete and asks no questions while not charging for their work. Their patients are scared of the visibility of hospitals and are apparently willing to risk their lives for it. For their safety, the Bunker really needs to be shut down and fast. Even though they don't charge right now, that doesn't mean that can't change in the future. Besides, the longer this place is operational, the larger the chance that someone else will see the business potential in additional facilities like it. We can't let that happen."
The older hero squinted at him for a long moment in suspicion. "You've already got your mind set on investigating this, don't you?"
The blond couldn't help but shrug with a smile. He was too obvious. "My agency told me to take it easy, but I can't help it! It's grabbed my attention. It's not every day that you stumble upon a mysterious criminal support organization. How can I refuse a challenge like that? I won't be officially investigating, but I'll be looking into it."
Recovery Girl looked like she wasn't entirely supportive of this move, but acknowledged that she couldn't do much to stop it. Once Present Mic set his eye on something, he was going to do what he could to achieve it to the best of his ability. Besides, she couldn't exactly argue against his sense of urgency in this case. "You're free to go, but I'm medically advising you to be careful. I don't want to see you here again over this."
Yamada stood and waved as he walked out the door. "You know me! I'll be fine!"
It wasn't exactly reassuring, but what else was new? Heroes never change.
Now that he was cleared, he started towards the faculty lounge to wait for Shouta. Mic's classes were being covered by Nezu since he wasn't expected to be back yet, his mission originally scheduled to last a few more days. While he had the rest of the day off to recover, he would likely be put back to work tomorrow. Ah well. His husband didn't have that sort of luxury and had been in classes all morning that prevented them from reuniting just yet. Hizashi was hoping to surprise him in the lounge, but the moment came sooner than expected. When he rounded the corner, Shouta was already walking in his direction, ostensibly to meet the blond in Recovery Girl's office.
"EEEEEEEEEEraser!" It wasn't necessary to call out his name to grab his attention; they'd already seen each other. Hizashi just wanted to show he had more than enough energy to embody his boisterous persona. He was okay. He will be fine.
The dark-haired man's shoulders dropped the tension they'd been carrying at the greeting. "Mic, I was just getting used to the silence around here," came the dry quip in return.
Soon they were face to face and Hizashi could see restrained relief in his husband's eyes. Shouta was never one to initiate public displays of affection at the school as Eraserhead was a persona that had a stern reputation to uphold. Luckily, Present Mic was a character that wasn't concerned with such things and draped himself dramatically over the darker man. It was met with an affected begrudging tolerance.
"Eraser, you wouldn't believe the week I had!"
"I heard, but they wouldn't give me any real details. What did you get yourself into this time?"
Mic beamed. "I'll tell you if you take me to lunch, just the two of us."
Eraser raised a brow. "Our meals are comped here and frankly they're better quality than anywhere else close by."
"Then it sounds like I'm a cheap date! Lucky you!" He batted his lashes to tease his companion.
Outsiders might have interpreted Eraser's silence to mean that he was considering whether to entertain this proposal, but Hizashi knew better. Shouta knew that his desire to have lunch just the two of them indicated that he wanted to talk about this privately and without interruptions as soon as possible. He would be figuring out a spot for that and how to grab lunch without drawing attention. If people knew Present Mic was back before they had their talk, they wouldn't be able to have the time to discuss anything until at least after school.
"Alright, fine." Aizawa said as he apparently came to a decision. "Follow me."
They now remembered why they didn't really use this hiding spot anymore. Two fully grown, athletically-built men, each six feet tall had somehow managed to cram themselves into a too-small supply closet. While Hizashi was on the floor with his knees to his chest, Shouta was sitting on an upturned bucket with his legs propped straight up the wall. Both had bento boxes prepared by Lunch Rush on their laps.
The raven-haired man was patiently listening to Hizashi talk about what happened, only interrupting to keep him from investing too much time in irrelevant side tangents. Shouta was well-versed in keeping him on track.
"So the Bunker is a medical facility? Hmm." Shouta was tapping his chopsticks to his lips in thought. "So what's your plan of action?"
"Well the good news is that Tsukauchi tentatively gave me the go-ahead for a preliminary fact-finding mission since I'm in a good position for it. Not only have I been there, but my cover was never blown-"
"You're not going back in there," Aizawa insisted through a mouth full of food.
Yamada raised his hands defensively. "No, no I know! All I meant was that I have a character who can go around asking questions without raising suspicion. But I won't go that route unless I have to, Sho. I have every intention of doing this from a distance. Phone calls, data spreadsheets, following money around, you know… all that boring stuff you hate ." The blond couldn't help but tease his husband who had always much preferred a more hands-on approach. He himself was flexible.
"You haven't touched your food because you've been talking. Eat."
"Fine, as long as you fill me in on what I've missed since I've been out."
Hizashi wanted to surprise Eri by picking her up today from school, something that neither he nor his husband had the luxury to do most days since UA let out a bit later than the elementary schools in the area. Since he had the rest of the day off, he had a few hours before he needed to leave so it was the perfect opportunity to get some research done. He knew where the Bunker was, so it wasn't like he needed to figure that part of it out. The important intel was discovering the people involved and any potential crimes that go into an operation like this.
Most of the time, the best place to start would be the owners of an operation's building, but this was an exception. Based on his impressions of the place, it was a location that had been forgotten about and its current occupants were squatters. There was nothing even remotely official about it, hidden away like it was, so the chances of being able to find any records for it were slim-to-none.
The bakery, however, was something he could work with. Sone had told him that there must be some agreement between it and the Bunker since all of its deliveries run through the place, almost acting like an official address. That was as good a place as any to start. His search didn't pull up anything on the business itself, at least nothing that ever made the news or other official reports. The hero wasn't really expecting that though. For an operation like the Bunker, associating with a business that stood out wouldn't be good practice. Really, he needed to look for any criminal connections for anyone involved with the bakery.
Based on what he could find online, the business was family owned and operated and with the way the building looked to be set up, they likely lived in the apartment just above. Excellent. That gave him a family name to search through the criminal database and then an address to filter results.
Didn't take long to find a match.
Watari Shotaro, age 21, arrested a few times for petty theft and other minor charges. Hm. It seemed like a big leap to go from things like that to something as serious as the Bunker. There were a lot of situations that could cause that kind of behavior, but it wasn't like he had much details on the circumstances. The young man wasn't currently in jail, but he had a parole officer. They'd be able to give him some information. Soon the hero was on the phone.
A tired woman answered. "This is Musutafu Parole Assistant Services, Saeki speaking. How can I help you?"
"This is Present Mic," he began. While he tended to prefer to use more unassuming characters for investigative phone calls, when calling others in the criminal justice system, his hero name always got him much further than anything else. "I am doing a preliminary fact-finding investigation and I had some questions about one of the parolees under your supervision."
A defeated sigh came from the officer. "Oh no, not Murai again? I'm sorry about this, we're trying to work with him, but nothing seems to stick with him."
"Actually, this is about Watari Shotaro."
"Oh!" She sounded genuinely surprised. "He's one of my better ones. What did you need to know?"
"Just a basic history. The official record doesn't give me much more than the charges."
"Right. He's really a sweet kid, he's just impressionable and not very bright. I get a lot of people in here who claim to have just fallen in with the wrong crowd, but he's one of the few who I legitimately believe on that front. He's got a shrinking quirk so he can shrink objects for about an hour. Because of that, some of his peers roped him into assisting them with some thefts in their late teens by telling him it was for the greater good in some way. He always admired heroes and just wants to help the community.
"He had a near-death experience about six months ago and I think that really made him realize that his group of friends weren't really there for him. They just abandoned him. Luckily a passerby helped him long enough for the ambulance to get there and he cut ties with those former friends. Watari got a reduced sentence for cooperation in convicting the others and has since started a legitimate courier business that as far as I know seems to be doing alright."
"What kinds of things does he move?"
Saeki thought for a moment. "As far as I know, he will move just about anything that needs to be moved. A lot of times it's something as small as food deliveries, but often he moves old equipment to the dump or recycling centers that the usual services can't take or even to other businesses. Things like fryers or ovens. Because of his quirk, he can fit just about anything into a shoebox and bike where he needs to go. The time limit keeps it pretty local though. You don't think he's moving anything illegal, do you?"
Mic was too busy taking notes and almost missed the question. "It's too early to tell, but I don't think so. It's possible that his courier service is being taken advantage of by someone. The packages themselves aren't contraband as far as I'm aware, but would just be used for illegal purposes."
"Present Mic, should I get him to pause his work? I don't want him accidentally getting mixed up into something again." She seemed genuinely concerned over the young man.
"No, not yet." Hizashi made sure that he used a calming tone to ease her nerves. "We are nowhere near ready to make any moves and we don't want to spook our real targets by acting too early. Knowing that his service has the capacity to move these materials can also help our investigation and he could be an informant again if he even is actually involved at all. But again, it is far too early for that. I'm just looking for potential connections and leads."
The officer didn't sound entirely convinced, but wasn't as nervous as before either. "Alright. Please keep me updated if you find anything I need to know about or if I can help you further. I'll also let you know if I happen upon anything on my end now that I know there's a possibility of something to look out for."
"My many thanks. Have a good day!" He always made sure to end on a cheery note. Saeki echoed the sentiment, if less enthusiastically, and hung up on him.
He wasn't sure how knowledgeable Watari would be about this. He clearly had the means to move things around from medical waste and pharmaceuticals to larger equipment items. It was very possible that X-Ray or Test Tube saved him and they were using that fact to manipulate him into helping them. But it was just as likely that he was a far more willing participant who wants to show his gratitude in some way. The man didn't sound like some criminal mastermind however, and larger nefarious plans seemed unlikely. The couriers always seemed to be unwitting pawns to larger criminal plots.
But that was only one of many pieces to this puzzle. There was still a lot of research to do.
The time ticked by and soon an alarm Hizashi had set on his phone went off. Finally, he could take a well-deserved break. He stretched his back and legs with a groan for sitting in one position for too long. Yeah, that was enough of that for now. Besides, he had to leave to go pick up Eri. The thought of seeing her surprise brought a wide smile to his face.
He was so proud of how far she'd come these past couple of years. It took a lot of hard work with plenty of ups and downs. She was still on the shy side at school and preferred the company of older kids than her peers, but that was likely because she lived at a high school. She did have a few friends, something that both he and Shouta were incredibly thankful for. When their girl first started school, they were really concerned how she'd take to it. It had been a rough start, but they were thankfully through the other side. There were still hurdles of course as would be natural considering her trauma, but she was making excellent progress.
The man decided to take the train today and actually take the time to be leisurely. Between his radio show, hero work, and teaching job, he couldn't remember the last chance he had time to just slow down. Of course, he was never one to just do nothing; he always had to be doing something . However it was nice when those somethings could be as casual as picking your daughter up from school.
As a hero he stood out, but once he let his hair down, traded his sunglasses for square horn-rimmed glasses, and ditched the tight leather, he was as normal as any of the parents here waiting for their kids. He engaged in idle chit-chat about the kids with the rest of them, lamenting about how hard it could be to try to remember how to help with homework, what clubs their kids were in, sports or art they were proud of, just overall gushing about the children. He didn't have to wait long for the bell to ring. Since they were only in elementary school, clubs only met once a week so it wasn't long before the kids came streaming out.
With the amount of kids out and about, it was difficult trying to spot Eri in the crowd. Turns out, he didn't have to. She found him first.
"DADDY! You're back early!" The small body launched at him and almost toppled him over.
"Oof!" Sure he was fine to be up and about, but he still had some seriously bruised ribs. He tried not to let it show, but she was sharp as a tack and pulled back immediately.
"You got hurt! Is that why you're back?"
"Can't hide anything from you, can I, Eri-chan?"
The small girl huffed and folded her arms. "You promised you wouldn't!"
"I promised I would try not to get hurt, but sometimes things happen beyond my control." Yamada smiled warmly, but he knew that his daughter was completely unconvinced. "Could I make it up to you if we got ice cream?"
The girl's expression instantly returned to excitement again. "Ice cream?"
Oh he was absolutely wrapped around her little finger. He wouldn't have it any other way. "Yes! Let's go!"
He took her hand and they started walking down the street. Between the school and the train station there was a small ice cream shop that took full advantage of the location. It was no wonder that its busiest time of day was right after the elementary school let out. The shop specialized in using cookies, pretzels, fruit, and candy pieces to make animals out of the ice cream cones. They were really adorable. Tasty too.
When they arrived, they had gotten there just before the larger rush so they didn't have to wait long. "What do you want, Eri-chan?"
"Can I have a bunny in strawberry, please?" Like most little girls, Eri's preferences came and went. A few months ago she had a pretty intense panda phase, but now she seems to have moved toward rabbits. It was sometimes difficult to find gifts because by the time they got something for her, she had moved on. At least they could rely on cats and unicorns. Cats always reminded her of Shouta and she personally identified with unicorns.
Hizashi smiled and ordered the bunny for her and a matcha bear for himself. Naturally they had to have a selfie with their ice cream as soon as they got them and he immediately sent it to his husband. He normally got a vanilla cat.
He waited patiently for her to finish her pink bunny before engaging in conversation. "So, how was school today?"
She shrugged. "The same I guess. Hanako wasn't feeling well so I stayed inside with her instead of going outside for recess."
"Well, that was very nice of you!"
She beamed. "Yeah! Besides, it was too hot so I didn't want to be outside anyway. Oh! Meiko was annoying again." Eri's face seemed to scrunch itself as a means of emphasis.
"Uh-oh, what did she do this time?" Meiko and Eri weren't on the best of terms. It wasn't like the other girl was bullying his daughter, but the two definitely did not see eye-to-eye. He had never met the child or her parents personally, but according to Eri, she was pretty entitled and stuck-up, even if she didn't say it in so many words. Their homeroom teacher had been doing a good job monitoring the situation and keeping Hizashi and Shouta up-to-date.
"Meiko kept saying that Midnight was a bad hero!" She exclaimed, upset.
Now it was the blond's turn to frown. Midnight, or Nemuri as he knows her, is a really good family friend. Honestly, she is one of Eri's main female role models who adored looking after her. "Why would she say that?"
The girl huffed. "She said that Midnight dresses really trashy and isn't a good example or something."
"It sounds to me like Meiko is just repeating things her parents said." Honestly it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. This controversy has been around since Midnight first went pro.
"And then she kept saying that I was lying when I tried to tell her what she's really like! Why doesn't she ever believe me? I'm not a liar!"
The hero took a few moments to decide how he wanted to address this. "Eri-chan, you know how I act really different when I'm in my Present Mic costume than I am at home?"
"Yeah."
"Well, a lot of heroes are like that. Their personality as a hero can be really different from how they really are. Not many people see that side of them. You're special because you know quite a lot of heroes like that, but most people only know how heroes are when they're working. A lot of times, they forget that heroes are people just like they are."
"I know! That's why I was trying to tell her what Midnight is really like! But why would she think I'm lying?"
"I don't know specifically why she doesn't believe you," Yamada began carefully. "There are a few possibilities I can think of. Maybe she thought that when you first came to the class, that you were making up stories to get attention."
"But it's the truth!"
"I know, sweetheart, I know. But your story is so rare that it might be hard for people to believe. Another possibility is that she really does believe you, but she's jealous that you know all of these heroes and either wants other people to think you're lying or is trying to convince herself that you're lying to make herself feel better. Or maybe she just has this idea of what certain heroes are like and hearing something that contradicts that completely changes her opinions about them. Sometimes people get really uncomfortable when heroes aren't how they thought they were and would rather refuse to admit that they were wrong in the first place just so they can keep believing that hero is how they think they are."
"Well, that's dumb."
"It really is. Unfortunately, some people are just like that. No matter how many times you try to correct them, they will insist that they're right. They will never believe that they're wrong and there's nothing you can do about it."
Eri pouted like she usually did when she was thinking about something. "So what do I do about it?"
Hizashi smiled apologetically. "Well, it's a waste of time trying to convince them so it's best to just ignore it. I know it can be really hard, but it's more frustrating trying to argue. If the result is going to be the same, it's best to go with the option that will be less stressful for you."
His daughter didn't seem pleased with the response, but seemed to accept it. "Okay…."
"How about we get your father something? I bet he's jealous that we got to have ice cream." He hoped that the change in subject would cheer her up. It worked like a charm.
"Oh! Can we get him a cat cone?"
"Well, the ice cream will probably melt before we can get it to him, but there's a candy store nearby. Why don't we get him something from there?"
"Like that black licorice? Ew!" She made a face at the thought.
Yeah, he had no idea why Shouta liked that stuff. Maybe because he knows that nobody will eat it and he could have it all to himself. "Yeah, it's pretty gross. But we can shape it like a cat when we give it to him. He would really like that."
The girl was practically bouncing up and down now. "Yeah let's go!" Her mood had made a complete 180 from what it was moments before. She hopped down from her chair and grabbed her backpack then practically dragged her dad out of his chair. "Come on!"
He couldn't help but laugh as he followed her out. "Okay, okay! Let's make the cutest cat he's ever seen!"
It had been a few days since Hizashi began his investigation and he'd reached a kind of standstill. He'd achieved just about as much as he could using only public records, criminal records, and phone calls without meeting anyone in person. There were a few leads that were frustratingly out of his reach. Turns out that medical equipment was easier to get a hold of than he would have thought. Apparently there was a lot of medical surplus around as hospitals keep upgrading when a new model came out on the market. Perfectly usable machines were disposed of and ripe for the picking. Though it seems that some companies asked fewer questions of their buyers than others.
The pharmaceutical company that the Bunker used was more or less identified, but if he poked his nose around them too much, the hero was afraid that it'd spook them before he would be able to actually do anything about it. If they got defensive about their activities, the Bunker would surely follow. Since he didn't have true investigative authority, he was pretty much stuck.
Tsukauchi still hadn't yet been able to secure official status to the case. His superiors considered a medical facility that had a six-patient capacity to be pretty low on their priority list and didn't want to divert resources in that direction just yet. It wasn't like they failed to understand the potential implications, but at this present time, there were other issues that were more immediately harmful to the public. That was fair, Hizashi supposed. Didn't make it any less frustrating though.
So when he was called in as backup for a villain attack while on patrol, it was actually a welcome break. It would get him out of his own head for a few hours and clear his mind from this problem by working on another. When he arrived, it was clear that joining the fight himself would be a bad idea. Heroes and villains were crowded together in some sort of crude brawl in the middle of a series of apartment buildings. If he used his quirk for combat, there would be much collateral damage, both in the surrounding buildings and to allies.
Some of the heroes looked like they were trying to evacuate survivors, but kept getting interrupted by a villain. Luckily, this was something that Present Mic could take care of. Using his quirk, he was loud enough to be heard over the cacophony before him, making sure to angle the direct blast up into the sky so as to not actually hit anything.
"HEY LISTENERS! IF YOU ARE IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING, EXIT IN AN ORDERLY FASHION IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. BE SURE TO HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS WHO ARE HAVING TROUBLE MOVING! NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT TO MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS!"
One of the villains who had a quirk that turned his arms into heavy clubs tried to take a swipe at him, but Mic evaded then made sure to continue his announcement towards his opponent's face. "LISTENERS SHOULD RETREAT TO A SAFE DISTANCE! HOW ABOUT AROUND THE BLOCK? AND IF ANYONE HAS ANY EXPERIENCE WITH FIRST AID, YOUR HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!"
The effect was immediate and the villain fell to his knees in pain, clutching his bleeding ears. The opening gave Kamui Woods the opportunity to restrain him securely. This meant that the Voice Hero could continue coordinating the evacuation efforts. It was careful work, moving people around the buildings to avoid the fight as much as possible. He carved out a path that was as safe as possible and luckily once people were on it, others were able to follow. Every so often he had to personally carry someone who was too old or injured to traverse the uneven terrain. When Mic could, he got other civilians to help out so he could monitor the line as much as possible.
As he was shepherding people, he noticed that someone had set up a first aid station of sorts across the street. It was a bit closer than he'd personally recommend because of the risk of shrapnel or debris, but at least it wasn't immediately in front of the complex. It was growing, both in terms of volunteers and victims. The volunteers seemed self-organized and ranged from the elderly tending to the wounded to children acting as messengers or carrying small supplies around. There was even a girl with light pink hair in a high school uniform who was meeting those who were visibly injured as soon as they cleared the immediate danger to escort them to the first aid station.
As things were winding down on his end with fewer and fewer evacuees, something particularly caught his eye. He noticed that whenever the high school girl dropped someone off, she quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to them before going to collect another victim. The blond was broken from his momentary curiosity by a cry for help. Damn! The route had been cut off by some debris.
He quickly made his way over to the last group of survivors who had been stranded and began redirecting them onto another path. It wasn't as safe as the original route, but since this was the last group of survivors, it just needed to last long enough for them to get through. The concern wasn't so much on the ground below, but the overhang from the building above. The fight had significantly weakened the structure and while it wasn't immediately threatening to topple onto them, the conditions could change at any moment.
Just as they were almost clear, a large chunk of the ceiling came loose. It would have hit one of the civilians had Mic not shoved them out of the way. Unfortunately, speed wasn't the hero's strong suit and he got his leg caught instead. He gasped in pain, knowing that his shin was crushed. The survivors were understandably spooked and had bolted before any of them had noticed that their savior had been hurt. That was fine. It wasn't their job to worry about those kinds of things.
Okay he needed to get out of here. That ceiling chunk wasn't a good sign and staying here too long was just inviting something worse to happen. He braced himself to shove the concrete off of him when a voice stopped him.
"Don't do that until you're ready to move! That weight could be keeping you from bleeding out."
Surprised, the Voice Hero turned his head to see that high school girl approaching him with a first aid kit, close enough that he could see the scars on her face. He tried to warn her away.
"Hey little listener! It's too dangerous to be over here. Go back to the first aid station."
As if to emphasize his point, a loud explosion and its accompanying shock wave abruptly threw her to the ground, causing her to land among broken glass. She instinctively caught herself with her hands, but that meant they saw the brunt of the resulting damage. The girl sat up carefully and after a moment's reflection, she continued towards Present Mic and didn't acknowledge her bleeding palms.
The hero made his voice more stern. "Look, it's too dangerous for civilians. You need to leave before it's too late."
She promptly ignored him and touched his wrist with her fingers. A flicker of surprise crossed her face so quickly that the man wasn't sure if he really saw it. It was gone too soon for him to evaluate.
"You've got a comminuted fracture to your right tibia and an oblique fracture to your fibula. Your knee and foot are heavily bruised, but there are no real injuries."
Wait… no it can't be! The coincidences were impossible to dismiss. The way she figured out his injuries without looking at the damage directly, her size, the way she carried herself, the fact that it really wasn't too far from the Bunker.
X-Ray was a high school student?! This changes everything .
He watched as X-Ray pulled a roll of duct tape from her kit and attempted to clumsily apply it to her own hands. Oh, she must be trying to remove the glass shards. Tape was far faster than trying to pluck them out one-by-one with tweezers.
It couldn't be avoided. He wasn't in a position to prevent her from helping him so he would be forced to let her. She needed her hands to help him and she wasn't going to be able to use them like this. "Here, let me." Mic took the roll from her and made quick work of it, applying the strips to her skin and quickly pulling any foreign material away. She didn't even flinch. He made a move to reach for the bandages before dislodged dust above made the both of them shield their eyes. This building wasn't going to last much longer.
"Present Mic, I can't carry you," the girl said suddenly. "Your leg is too broken, the terrain too rough, and you're too big. I can't get you out of here."
"Hey, that doesn't matter. Don't worry about me, just get-"
"But if your leg was fine, you could carry me, couldn't you?"
The Voice Hero was taken aback by the question, but nodded. "Yes, but I don't see how-"
"No time." The teen removed Mic's gloves, grabbed the roll of bandages and began quickly wrapping the man's palms. It was odd since she was the one whose hands were bleeding. Before he could protest, she was making a splint out of materials lying around them and… applied it to her right leg? Again, not the correct injury.
"What are you doing?"
She sat on the ground next to him and kept her splinted leg outstretched before her. "You owe me for this."
The girl then fully took his hand and squeezed it. It was like a wave of some kind of energy slowly rolled over him, starting with the connected hands and radiating outward. His hand stung like hell and the other soon followed. The wave moved down and as it approached his leg, X-Ray bodily shoved the concrete off of it. For a moment, there was a blinding and agonizing pain from the motion, but it was swiftly replaced by a feeling he couldn't describe. He looked down expecting to see heavy damage, but was instead met with the sight of his leg mending itself. It was as if he was watching a fast-forwarded video of his leg healing.
He almost missed a soft whimper beside him that forced him to look at her. The girl's face was contorted in pain, but it was clear that it was something that she had been through before. She was quietly keeping her breathing in check with practiced ease. It didn't take long for Mic to notice why. Just as his leg was healing, hers was breaking. The dark shape of her tights on her right leg showed her leg was twisting and bending in an unnatural way, even with the makeshift splint. She somehow took his broken leg from him. Was this X-Ray's quirk?
The moment he felt the wave reach his foot, she let go of his hand and reached for the first aid kit. She took out a bottle of pain medication and swallowed a few of the pills dry. He knew that there was no way that they would be at all sufficient for the injury she now had, but she had to have known that. His hands now hurt like a bitch, but they were nowhere near as bad as the leg had been, so he wasn't going to bother asking for any himself.
A loud rumble above them brought him out of his reverie. There was no time to test out his leg. They needed to get out. Now. Quickly, he scooped up the injured teen who cried out in pain at the sudden jostling, and barely made it out of the way before the balcony a few floors above crashed onto the ground where they'd just been. It wasn't much work to make it back to the first aid station where he dropped her off to be treated. As much as he wanted to stay and question her, there was still a situation to resolve.
Damn, damn, damn! It had taken a while for the battle to finally cease. Fights don't usually last nearly that long, but one of the villains apparently had a quirk that could increase the stamina of others and so prolonged the whole affair. But at the end of the day, they finally got all of the villains restrained and arrested. Present Mic got to make his report and was at last able to return to the first aid station. Unfortunately, the injured, pink-haired, high school girl was nowhere to be seen.
It was the same story from everyone. She had been a big help by streamlining the triage process, but she left just after they put a sturdier splint on her leg. And nobody was able to catch her name. She had just disappeared.
On the bright side, he knew where she would have gone. The Bunker would be the only place she'd be able to get a proper cast in secret. He already had a location, he now had her face, all that was left was her name and he was determined to find it.