CW: Medical squick in worldbuilding header.
The rise of quirks proved to be both a blessing and a curse to the medical industry. Those with healing quirks are highly sought after to work in hospitals due to the speed at which they can help patients recover. Healing quirks aren't particularly common and each has different strengths and weaknesses. For example, a Japanese pro heroes quirk works using the patient's energy to accelerate the healing, while others could use the user's energy.
Another benefit was that human bodies became more resilient than those in the twenty-first century. Most people, even those who are quirkless, can recover quickly from minor injuries. This has led to a drastic decrease in hospitalizations due to household accidents. Most major injuries nowadays are caused by quirks.
It hasn't all been positive though. Due to the drastic changes in human biology, most patients need specialized care, especially in cases of those with heteromorphic quirks. You cannot treat someone whose body shares traits with animals or machines in the same way. Some hospitals in the early days of quirks even refused to treat those with mutation quirks, fearing malpractice lawsuits because they didn't know
how to treat the patient. Thankfully this is no longer the case with the advancement of knowledge in quirk biology.
Perhaps the worst victim of quirks is the organ transplantation process. Even before quirks people needed to take immunosuppressants for the entire lifespan of the transplanted organ, barring special cases. The organ also had to be of a compatible donor. Following the rise of quirks, organ transplantation, and donation has fallen globally by 98%. The sheer variety in human biology has made most organs unique to the body they came from. Some quirks alter certain organs to produce specific chemicals and proteins required for the quirk to function, which can be toxic to bodies not equipped to handle it. Others are literally the quirk factor of the user and cannot be transplanted safely to another host.
Most of the data on this comes from illegal experimentation from the dawn of quirks, like the case of a hyper-regeneration quirk being used to harvest organs in the United States. The organs in question were theoretically viable for those needing transplants. It was only after the surgeries were inserted that everything went wrong. Once attached, the organs sensed that something was missing and attempted to regenerate the rest of the body inside the patient. Said organs regenerated were a fusion of the host and donor's biology, quickly becoming unstable and cancerous, killing the patients within a matter of minutes assuming their wounds didn't burst from the rapid tissue growth.
Currently, organ transplantation is only possible among siblings with the exact same quirk, or quirkless individuals. The rapidly declining quirkless population has led to a shortage of organ donors worldwide. Most countries have lifted the ban on stem cell research and cloning, but the complexity of quirk biology, as well as the expense, has stifled any progress. The process for organ cloning is expensive and no country or company has been able to find a process to produce viable organs. Most don't even try as the process would have to be customized per patient.
Khayyam, Giyath.
History of Quirks in the Medical Field. Egypt: Akademiya Publishing, 2214. 133-134. Print
[Aldera Middle School, May 6th, 2242]
Izuku was exhausted. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed himself so hard last night. He'd stayed up training longer than usual before he went to bed. It was a mistake to overwork himself, especially on a school night. He was so out of it he almost didn't realize he'd bumped into Kacchan.
"Oi! Watch where you're going Deku!" Katsuki hissed. This was the first time he'd spoken to Izuku since the Sludge Villain incident. Ever since then, he'd barely paid Izuku any mind besides the occasional glare. It was the nicest he'd been to Izuku since Hisashi's funeral.
'Stupid fucking nerd needs to watch where he's going.' Katsuki grit his teeth as he continued past useless Deku. "Tch…" The nerd had been really tired lately. He'd put on a bit of muscle too, not like getting ripped would help a quirkless weakling like him be a hero.
He still saved you though.
Why did fucking Deku of all people have to rescue him? He didn't need saving from the shitty nerd! If those useless extras had bothered to do their damn jobs this never would've happened. Really it wasn't even Deku who saved him, it was All Might who'd swooped in and punched the slimy bastard into pieces. Deku wasn't a hero, he was just a distraction.
Even though he rushed in to help you after what you said to him earlier that day.
Katsuki growled and sat down at his desk. If he just left Deku alone he wouldn't have to keep seeing that stupid look on his face. The same look he gave him in the creek all those years ago. What gave him the right to look at Katsuki like he was some weakling who needed saving? Heroes like All Might and Endeavor didn't need to be saved cause they were the strongest. That's where he belonged, at the top. When February rolled around and Deku failed the hero exam he'd see where he belonged.
Katsuki would never admit it to the nerd, but he was smart. He was good enough to get into U.A. or some other school's general education program and do something else with his life. Hopefully, Deku would realize that and give up on his stupid dream and chase something more realistic. It wasn't like Deku was going to get into U.A. anyways, so why should he spend the energy thinking about the nerd?
Izuku got to the beach right after school. Usually, Toshinori-sensei was already there with the truck but today he was absent. That was odd, maybe he was running late? He pulled out his phone and texted the man. After a few minutes of no response, he called his mom to come to supervise him. Inko had come to watch him train intermittently to make sure he was staying safe during the training. She always brought the both of them something to eat too, since he usually missed dinner.
"Mom, Toshinori-sensei hasn't shown up yet. Can you come down until he gets here?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes sweetie. Do you want me to bring you some katsudon?" She asked.
"Yes, please. Can you bring something for Toshinori-sensei too? He seems to really like the soup you make."
He could afford to take it a bit easier today, focusing on cardio and endurance instead of straining his muscles lifting trash. Since he'd started, he already cleared out a large patch of sand to do workouts in. Toshinori-sensei had gone over it with a metal detector and beach rake to assure that there was no debris that someone could step on. Once his mom arrived he sent a text to his mentor to let him know what was going on and started to do his warmups.
Inko sat up on the beach wall watching her son. She'd brought him some chocolate protein bars and water bottles along with the katsudon that Izuku had already devoured. At first, she'd been worried about her son training by moving all this junk off the beach. She'd had doubts about how safe it was, despite All Mig- Yagi having gloves and first aid on hand, as well as Izuku having his tetanus shot. Gods, that was weird to think about even after almost two weeks of knowing the man. It was jarring seeing the skeleton of a man and knowing that he was the world's number one hero. She'd had to mentally train herself to call him by his real name to keep his identity under wraps.
Despite her reservations about the training, she could tell her son was happy despite going to bed exhausted nearly every night. Izuku had put on a little muscle in the month since he started training with Toshinori and had even grown a few centimeters since she last measured. He was also acting a bit more confident lately.
It was a few hours into the evening before Toshinori responded to her texts, apologizing for running late. He'd been in an interview with the police since the early morning that ran for longer than expected. The man looked exhausted when he finally arrived and sat down next to her.
"I must apologize again for not informing you of what was happening. The interview was sprung on me last minute this morning." Toshinori sighed. Despite his missing stomach, his gut rumbled. He hadn't eaten since the morning.
"Don't trouble yourself. I can afford to take time out of my day to watch Izuku. You are a busy man after all." Inko said she handed him a thermos of soup. "Here, Izuku asked me to make this for you."
Toshinori opened the thermos and took a sniff. It was a special recipe of miso soup that Inko had developed just for him. The vegetables were basically liquified to allow him to digest their nutrients. Otherwise, he would've had to chew them into a paste. Something about a good homemade meal made it taste so much better. Sure, Toshinori knew how to cook, but most of his meals were optimized to give him the maximum amount of nutrition since he didn't have a stomach to digest it efficiently. He had to rely only on his intestines to get what little nutrients they could, hence his weakened form. Those meals weren't exactly designed to taste good, but to give him enough nutrients to maintain One For All.
But Inko put her heart and soul into the soup. Even though he told her that most of it would pass through his intestines without much benefit she still kept making it for him. Inko was kind, just like Izuku.
Toshinori took a sip of the soup, savoring the flavor as he watched his successor push himself.
…
…
But he couldn't help but feel distracted by his interview with Karris earlier. When Nezu called him in for an interview, they'd been under the assumption that some of them may have been given multiple quirks from All For One. It was a fair assumption considering he was the only one capable of such a feat.
He didn't expect them to not be of this universe entirely. If it weren't for Tsukauchi's constantly panicked expression whenever something the man said registered as true he wouldn't have believed it. Toshinori had conflicting feelings about the man. When Karris told his story of the butchery he had committed in the name of his goals, he'd been disgusted with the man… But he could see how broken the man became when he spoke of his misdeeds. Misdeeds that ended up being for nothing.
Those Orokin… not even death could stop them. Karris spent decades of his life killing them just for the opportunity of rebellion. His punishment was nothing short of horrific. Stripped of his identity and made a digital slave. He'd been stuck like that for centuries, having to literally shatter his mind multiple times to stay sane when he discovered what exactly he was and what he'd done.
"Yagi?" Inko interrupted his train of thought, having noticed his distraught face. "Are you alright?" She asked while placing a hand on his shoulder.
He sighed. "No, not really. I know I promised no more secrets, but it has to do with an ongoing investigation so I can't say much. It's just been a lot to process."
Inko was surprised by his reaction. She'd seen many photos and interviews of All Might, and he'd always been smiling. Even in recordings of fights with villains he rarely lost his signature smile. Seeing him exhausted and distressed like this was a bit jarring to her.
Toshiniori took another long sip of his soup and coughed. "It is nice, having someone to talk to about other things though." Down on the beach, Izuku finished another set of exercises. "Young Izuku, I don't want him to end up like me. To become the Symbol of Peace, I gave up everything resembling a normal life. I'm sure your parents told you how bad it was forty years ago. I wanted to be a pillar that gave everyone hope and made them feel safe. That's what I told my mentor before she decided I would inherit One For All." He gazed down at Izuku, who was chugging down a bottle of water, sweat glistening under the setting sun.
"But that was a long time ago. The world doesn't need that kind of symbol anymore, and with him gone, young Izuku won't have to face what I did. He wants to be a hero just like me, but I want him to forge his own path as a hero. I want him to not make the same mistakes I did. He should be able to make friends, find love…" He trailed off. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to ramble on like this." He said with a blush.
It had never occurred to Inko just how much Toshinori had sacrificed. Everyone took the Symbol of Peace for granted without taking the time to see the man behind the hero. He always wore his signature smile that everyone recognized, but he'd been doing that for decades. It must take a toll, even disregarding his horrific injuries. The way he spoke was very humble for someone of his fame.
They sat there till night fell in silence, but at least Toshinori was momentarily distracted from thinking about today.
[Naruhata Ward, May 7th, 2242]
"C'mere ya little shit!" A teenaged Mirko hollered at Inosuke. She'd been forced to take the day off after being by a villain's "quirk" while on patrol. The quirk in question was called
「Sweet Sixteen」, which turned the person it hit into the sixteen-year-old version of themselves.
It had been four days since the boar-masked teen had arrived at Iwao's home. The police had to process the paperwork once Rumi registered that she actually had a place for the boy to stay. In the time between, Iwao had purchased a nearby warehouse for Rumi and Inosuke to train in. Rumi had given him a lot of money, probably more than he needed honestly. It was enough for him to start considering doing something with his life besides being an aged vigilante. There were people in this ward that needed training, and he wasn't getting any younger. Tamao and Soga would probably feel a lot better knowing he was safe. If he kept going on like this, he'd eventually bite the bullet in some alley somewhere. He couldn't do that to his daughter.
The warehouse wasn't in the best shape, he still was waiting on repairs to be done and quirk training supplies to be delivered. At least getting a quirk gym license hadn't been too difficult. Being a former pro with old connections and having a rising star backing you had its benefits.
"Luna Arc!"
CRASH!
That was assuming those two idiots wouldn't destroy the damn building before he got his gym up and running. Rumi had taken over training the boy since he honestly couldn't keep up with the brat's speed. It was insane how skilled the kid was already like he'd been fighting his entire life. Even without a quirk, he could keep up with Rumi when she was at her best. All Iwao could do was offer tips on fighting people with quirks.
CRUNCH!
Aaaand she just kicked another hole in the floor. He really hoped those reinforced training dummies held up like the reviews said they would.
Training with rabbit lady, or rabbit girl, as she would be for the next few hours until whatever affected her wore off, was the most fun Inosuke had in years. Not to say he won any of their training spars, but he put up a good fight and was improving rapidly.
Today, he'd made one simple mistake.
"You know, with you being turned into a teenager, I can probably beat you!" He'd told her, puffing out his chest.
When she spun around with a feral grin on her face, it was then he realized he'd fucked up.
Maybe if Iwao told him she was always this battle hungry even as a teenager, he wouldn't have pushed that button. The man didn't seem to care as he sipped his beer. Ahh, nostalgia.
"C'mere ya little shit!" She yelled while leaping through the air. Inosuke was doing everything he could to avoid her repeated axe kicks. It was only because he could feel the air moving as she approached that he was able to dodge the blows.
"LUNA ARC!" She screamed as she punched another hole into the floor.
'Man, I really wish I could use my swords…' He thought. They had confiscated his swords because "You can't just go around trying to start fights and slash people" and "You need a license to have these". Inosuke could still fight without them, but they were special to him so it did hurt to not have them readily available.
He dodged another kick that cracked the ground underneath him, flipping out of the way of the follow-up punch. "C'mon, pretty boy! Quit running and fight back! Didn't ya say you could beat me now that I'm younger?" The rabbit hero hit him with a roundhouse kick that was too fast to dodge even though he sensed it coming, sending him flying into a crate.
"Ughh… ow…" Inosuke dragged himself out of the ruined crate he'd been kicked into before springing back to his feet. "I'm ok!" He boasted, giving her a thumbs up.
"Damn it Rumi! Take it easy on the boy!" Iwao yelled from across the room. "Yer gonna break this building before I can fucking use it at this rate." He pointed to the myriad of holes in the floor and broken crates around the building. "You're lucky this is all going to be replaced in a few weeks, but you need to tone it down if you're going to train in here!" The scarred man scowled at the two giving them a harsh glare with his good eye.
"He started it!" Rumi pouted.
"I don't care if he fucking started it, you're twenty-fucking-six years old!" He rested his forehead in his hand. "Just… go wash up. You both are done for the day." Iwao sighed, grabbing a broom to sweep the ruined floors yet again. He paused. "Actually, clean the damn floors first. You broke it, you have to clean it up!" He tossed a broom to each of them and hobbled away.
It took them another hour to get the warehouse straightened out and get back to Oguro's home and another thirty for them both to shower. Inosuke went last because he was still unused to using it and took longer to wash. He finished dressing and walked into the kitchen for dinner.
Rabbit girl was staring at the time on her phone tapping her foot impatiently, while one-eye was pulling a pan out of the metal stove. The former was wearing a baggy T-shirt and stretchable pants.
"C'mon… any minute now…" With a flash of pink light, Rumi grew back to her adult size, the twenty-four-hour effects on her finally expiring. "Finally! I'm back bitches! Oguro, beer me!" She caught the can that was thrown her way and cracked the lid open. Finally, she was of drinking age again. "Fucking stand users…" She muttered too quietly for Inosuke to hear.
The oven dinged, and Iwao pulled the food out to let it cool and sat down at the table. Inosuke had set his mask off to the side after the man had declared a "no costumes at the table" rule. The boy was already digging into a bag of chips. Well, scarfing down was a better word for it. He shared his table manners with Rumi as well.
Iwao cleared his throat. "Hashibira." The boy looked up, cheeks stuffed with chips like a chipmunk.
"Yesh?"
"You keep moving like a swordsman whenever you fight. I can tell you have other martial skills, which means you've grown so used to fighting with swords that you've grown complacent in other departments."
Inosuke swallowed the chips in a huge gulp without any water. "Yeah, 'cause I'm a swordsman! What else am I supposed to do?"
"You shouldn't rely entirely on your gear. What will you do if it breaks in a fight?"
Inosuke raised a finger to argue but the words got caught in his mouth. He remembered that time on the mountain when both his swords were broken by the spider demon, or when Tanbachiro broke his sword on multiple occasions. Fighting demons without a weapon was basically suicide, no matter how skilled you were with martial arts. From what he'd seen so far, quirks were just like the Blood Demon Arts that he'd fought against, and probably more powerful in some cases like whatever turned rabbit lady into a teenager earlier. "... I guess." He grumbled.
"Look at me and Rumi, for example. I used to use brass knuckles," He pulled one out of his pocket and set it on the table. "And she fights with her hands and feet. While the knuckles are a tool, they enhance my power rather than being completely reliant on them. If I lose them or they break, I can keep punching a punk with my bare fists if I have to."
Rumi chimed in. "It's the same as relying entirely on the power of your quirk. That's why you see so many D-listers kick the bucket or never move up in the ranks. They get complacent and can't do shit if their powers don't work." She pointed at herself. "My quirk is Rabbit, and people always thought it was a weak quirk that had no use in fighting. I had to train my fucking ass off to get to where I am now. You on the other hand don't have a quirk, which means you need to work twice as hard, just like the old man." She grabbed the bag of chips and shoved some into her mouth.
"Which means we need to approach your training in a different way. Build you from the ground up. Rumi," he glared at the rabbit-eared woman. "Is going to hold back on full contact fights and focus on hand-to-hand. While she patrols, you and I are going to work on basic strength training. You've already got an excellent foundation, you just need to go further beyond." The timer dinged, signaling that the food was finished cooling off and he rose to scrape it off the pan.
Rumi washed down the chips with her beer, crumping the can and popping open another. "Fine, I'll hold back a bit, but he can already handle me pretty well at high levels." She burped. "Also, you gotta stop slacking off your education. Can't get into a good hero school like Ketsubutsu or U.A. if you don't pass the exams." She wasn't going to even try to get him into Shiketsu. That school was way too strict and their uniform policy was shit. She'd heard their new principal, some retired hero from China, was repealing some of the more archaic school rules like the no-dating rule. But if she sent Inosuke there, he'd suffocate from all their dress code rules and conduct they expected of their students. The boy couldn't even go five minutes without taking off his shirt for god's sake.
"But the work is so boring. I wanna fight, not fill out forms! Why do I need to know math?" Inosuke pouted.
"Because I said so, brat! But if it's too hard for you I guess you can aim for a worse hero school. There's no harm in admitting you can't do it." She smirked. She knew how to get under someone as stubborn as Inosuke's skin. After all, that's how Ryuko tricked her into actually filling out her paperwork to the HPSC.
A vein popped on Inosuke's forehead. "Oh yea! I'll show you! I'll finish all my studying and get the best score! Just you watch me, Urushiyama Ruby!"
"Goddamit! It's Usagiyama Rumi!"
The stand that hit Mirko is named after the song "Sweet Sixteen" By Billy Idol. She told Inosuke it was a quirk because he doesn't have the security clearance to know about stand users.