"NO!" I jerked awake with a desperate gasp, my body catapulting up to a sitting position in the dark room.
My lungs filled with air in short gasps. Beads of sweat on my body caused my hair and clothes to stick to me. Nothing happened right away, but I scanned the room for any danger regardless, confused to where I was. Focusing on taking deep breaths to calm myself down, the previous short and ragged breaths from before were an embarrassing reminder that I can still be so affected by such childish nightmares.
"Nightmares?... Wait. Those were my... Memories..." I said, clutching my head. "There's no going back to sleep after something like that." I groaned, feeling an intense and painful throbbing on one side. I felt the bandage wrapped around my head before I pulled it off. "Ouch! It still hurts... Wait a minute, bandages?"
Noticing I was covered in blankets that were not the bedsheets I was used to, I realized that this wasn't my apartment. When my heart rate eventually slowed to a more steady pace, I rubbed my eyes. Feeling something on my wrist, I held it up to the dim room light to see there was a loose tag on it. With my other hand, I turned it over to see my name "Lyris" printed on it and the name of the hospital I was at with smaller letters right below it.
'The hospital? I haven't been to one since that incident where villains destroyed one during an attack. Now that I think about it, that was one of the first cases I worked on with Hawks... How long have I been here? This is bad.'
The intermittent beeping sound I heard was from the different machines next to my bed. I yanked off everything that was connected to me. They all stopped at once, only showing an error on each screen. Outside of the room was rather quiet. It seemed to be past visiting hours.
Sensing a sharp pain in my eyes, it made me wince. It felt like something was wrong with them. Despite knowing that I shouldn't be moving around so soon, I pulled the covers off, and my feet landed on the cold tile floor. My balance was unsteady at first, but I managed to make my way over to the window nearby and see the darkened sky. The reflection on the glass startled me. My pupils were glowing brighter than they ever have before.
'The time in between when my quirk appears is getting shorter and shorter each day...'
"Why are my eyes... Different? They've changed? No... Evolved?" I raised a hand to my cheek and couldn't believe what I was seeing. "I'm running out of time. There's no use in denying it now."
Looking over to the chair at the corner of the room, I noticed some of my personal items were gathered there. Walking over to the small pile as I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to make them return to normal, I breathed a small sigh of relief to see my cellphone was there. The surface was now cracked, and it was low on battery, but it was still in working condition by some miracle. Underneath the chair were a pair of slippers that I quickly put on my feet. Noticing the number of unread text messages and missed calls, there was definitely a lot for me to go through later on. I then dialed one of the first numbers I could think of and waited for my contact to pick up.
"Hello?" The person on the other line answered within the first few rings.
"Hey, it's me." I began with.
"I haven't heard from you in a while! It's so late at night, is everything okay?"
"I'm in a bit of a situation, and in need of a favor from you. Remember the kind of work I do? It's about that. So, I'll text you the address of where I'm at. It's possible that the walls have ears, so I can't talk much. I promise to explain more later when I can. It's just that you're the only person that I could think of right away and reach out to."
"I understand. Let me know what I need to do."
"I really appreciate your help. I owe you one." I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Don't worry about it. You were a big help in our last case. With this, we'll be even."
"Thank you." I said, hanging up and texted him the address of the hospital with quickly typed in what I needed for him to do. Fortunately, I was able to hit send before the screen went black from the low battery. "Great." I sighed in disappointment, tossing it back on the chair in frustration. Silently, I made my way back to the open window to look at the busy city streets below full of traffic. The glow of my eyes now appeared dim when compared to earlier, but I couldn't allow the quirk to be active under any circumstances. Slowing my breathing, I tried to focus on shutting it away once more. Then, I closed my eyes to try and regain control of it.
'The fact that Hawks recently made me aware that someone has been trying to frame me... I can't let myself become reckless. There's only a few people that I can trust now that I'm aware.'
A sudden knock on the door made me jump in surprise. I was barely able to completely suppress my quirk in time. A sudden jolt of pain in my head was concerning, as I didn't know how much longer I was able to keep this up. Checking the reflection of my face, my eyes returned back to the normal color they usually were, the quirkless color I chose to maintain. From behind the door, a young nurse came in and didn't hide her shock when she saw me up from the bed instead of resting.
"Oh! You're awake!" She asked me, rushing into the room, checking over the machine with the error message on the screen, and looked back at me. "How are you feeling?"
"Hey, what exactly happened to me? I can't seem to remember much before waking up." I asked her, hoping for some answers. "Have I been here long?"
"The heroes were able to stop the villains who were going after you. They brought you here. That was only a few days ago. You hit your head pretty hard. We didn't expect you to have woken up so soon, so this is great news!"
"A few days?... But, that's... Huh?" Taking all of this information, I sat back down at the edge of the bed. I noticed there was someone at the doorway who seemed to not know whether they could come in or not. "Is someone there?" I asked, raising my voice to call out to whoever it was.
"Um, can I come in?" A familiar voice answered and approached the open door, revealing to be Izuku Midoriya. He was alone.
"You're here? Are you okay?" I asked him, not expecting to see him in the hospital.
"I'm not a patient... Anymore. I just wanted to see if you were okay, so I went with the nurse. You weren't awake yesterday, so I'm happy to see you're doing better." He said, keeping his eyes down to the floor.
"I know it's past the time for visits, but he insisted on visiting you since you were first brought here. He was about to leave not too long ago until the machines going off on my computer screen alerted us that you must be awake. Actually, you're quite popular, it seems." She said with a smile. "I'll be back." The nurse excused herself from the room. "I need to speak with the doctor. It won't take too long."
Now that it was just Izuku and myself, things became awkward, not knowing what to say first.
"What brings you here?" I asked, lowering my guard a little.
Walking closer to the bed where I sat on the edge of, he avoided making eye contact with me.
"I'm so sorry!" He said, quickly bowing his head down.
"W- what are you saying that for all of a sudden?" I questioned him, not understanding where this was coming from.
"I thought that I was getting stronger, but I guess I found out the hard way that I still have a lot left to learn. I wasn't able to reach you in time." He began with, which surprised me to hear. "I'm sorry that you got injured because of me not being good enough..." He trailed off, the pain in his voice on every word not getting past me.
The genuine anguish coming from him had me at a loss of words at first, and I didn't react right away. Clearing my throat, I had to say something to this young future hero.
"Deku." I used his Hero name to get his attention. "There's something you should keep in mind..." I started to say, making him look back up at me by reaching out and placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "As long as you've saved even one life, that's a victory. So, don't you ever take that lightly."
The look of shock in his face as those words sunk in made him smile a little, and that was enough for me to see.
"But b- because of me, you were-"
"Because of you, myself and several others managed to survive. It's my own fault I was in the way. You don't have anything to feel sorry for. Now, where's that smile people should always see on your face?" I nudged him with my elbow, slightly wincing from how sore I still was. "Remember? You talked to me to make sure that I was okay. When I first saw it from you after the initial attack... That big smile of yours back then, it honestly reminded me of All Might. Suddenly, I wasn't so scared anymore."
Not a moment later, he shook his head fiercely and held his head up high this time. Gripping his fists tightly, he had a renewed sense of courage in his abilities.
"Next time, I won't repeat the same mistakes!" Izuku said, the familiar smile on his face erasing all signs of his earlier mental torment.
"You got a long way left to go, but don't you ever forget that you're a great hero. Lots of people depend on you. Alright?" I said, wearing a big grin when I saw his whole demeanor change. "From now on, leave no a space for uncertainty in your own power."
"I understand. I'm glad that I came here and talked with you. In time, you'll see the kind of Hero that I want to be!" He promised me, his voice cheerful.
"I can't wait to see." I nodded in agreement.
A light knocking on the door caught our attention, and we saw the nurse had returned with the doctor to talk with me.
"I guess that's my cue to go." Izuku said with a short bow before he walked past the nurse and doctor. "Thank you... For not doubting me."
When the two closed the door behind them, they had a look of confusion on their face.
"Um, it says here that your medical history is a bit... Complicated." The doctor tried to word his thoughts while looking for some answers from me.
The nurse walked straight towards the machine and tried to restart the system to clear the error message, but I backed away when she tried to connect me to them.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"While you're officially registered as quirkless in the system, it seems as though something is going on where your body is actually-"
'Oh, no! That feeling again!'
The window beside us had audibly cracked across the surface, and it surprised all three of us.
'Was that just now... From me?' I gasped when I felt that same sensation of my quirk surfacing. I held my hands tightly until my knuckles turned white. 'No! Not now...' I forcibly suppressed my power back down.
"Okay. Listen to me very clearly... I request the removal of any record that I was ever here in the first place." The nurse and doctor didn't react right away, still unnerved by the sudden cracks on the window, which stopped when I raised my voice to get them to switch their focus back to me. "Right away! Don't make me repeat myself."
"Oh, uh, I'm afraid I'll have to say no to that. You see, we can't simply erase anything with a simple request. They're a matter of public record and subject to legal requirements." The doctor answered seriously.
"You don't understand. It's extremely important that you just do it. No questions asked." I insisted, worried that they weren't going to take me seriously enough to go along with it.
"It seems you're the one who doesn't understand. This isn't something to be taken so lightly." The doctor said more firmly.
"Excuse me." A new voice joined in after knocking on the door a few times to announce his arrival.
Standing from behind the door was the person I knew could get me out of this. Instantly, I felt a wave of relief wash over me, and despite that, I felt my heart begin to race.
'He looks so different from the last time I saw him. It's been so long since I've seen him in person...'
"Who are you?" The doctor asked. "You can't just come barging in like this in a patient's room. Visiting hours are over."
Holding up his badge for the doctor and nurse to see, he kept his calm demeanor when he answered the doctor.
"How rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. I'm here in regard to this specific patient."
"A detective?" The nurse questioned, her eyes widened as she took in the badge. "Why would someone like that be here out of the blue like this?"
Walking further in the room and closing the door behind him, he put his badge away and nodded towards me before returning his attention to the other two.
"I'm here on official business. If I heard correctly just now, your patient requested her records gone. To put it simply, I'm going to need you to hand over any and all evidence that shows this young woman was ever here. With haste." He said, the commanding tone leaving no room for them to react at first.
"W- what are you talking about? Do you have a warrant on you for this?" The doctor took a step back and gripped the papers he had in hand tighter. "Without a warrant to show me, you can't demand me to do something like that."
Realizing what they held were papers of the tests they did on me earlier. Although it was a normal routine for them to do upon my admission, I couldn't allow it to exist. Tsukauchi was following through with my earlier text to him, my request of erasing my visit here from ever having taken place.
"Doctor, I don't think it's necessary to finish that sentence. Everything you have on me, you're to destroy all digital evidence on it and give him any physical documentation for proper disposal." I said in a calm voice that betrayed my actual feelings, still feeling anxious that they were going to stand their ground on the need to see an official warrant. "My contacts will have to make sure of it after I leave here tonight." I added in a confident tone.
"Destroy? Who are you really?" He turned around and questioned me.
"Wait! You're not ready to be discharged!" The nurse spoke up to protest.
"Don't worry about me." I said, moving to get up only to have the nurse try to stand in my way.
"The only way that I could explain it is that she's a ghost. My partner here is involved with certain work from our government that requires her to not exist on paper." Tsukauchi said. "Due to her undercover work, her presence is classified. According to the rules, any and all information on her should be controlled. Therefore, I need everything from her initial entry up to now be removed and handed over to me. Immediately."
"She's a... Ghost from the government?" The doctor asked in amazement. "That explains why she's registered like she is in the system... B- but Detective, we have strict protocols set in plac- "
"Protocols that we both know are secondary to classified information and confidentiality." Tsukauchi interjected, cutting his futile argument short. "I assure you, this is a matter of national security. If you have any doubts, you can contact my office directly." Watching as the nurse exchanged a worried glance at the doctor, I wondered if he was able to convince the two to comply without any problems. Tsukauchi maintained his authoritative stance as he patiently awaited their answer. "Admitting her here was a mistake. It's rare, but sometimes things like this have happened before. Rest assured, it's not the fault of the hospital who took care of her when she needed their help." He used a softer tone when he added the last part, letting them know they weren't in trouble for doing their job.
"I can't just let you go so early when you're stil-" The nurse tried one more time to stop me from walking past her to Tsukauchi's side before the doctor spoke up and cut her off.
"That's enough." The doctor said to the nurse, which shocked her. After a brief, tense silence, the doctor let out a sigh. With a grim face, he stepped forward and broke his silence. "No. I can't do that... Which is what I'd like to say if I'm being honest with you, but because I've encountered a ghost like you in the past before, I will do as you say. It was just once, but I fully understand the situation. We'll get the files ready."
"What?! But, Doctor, she needs to-" The nurse tried to say.
"I know the kind of person she is now. My apologies. Carry on." The doctor spoke over the nurse to show he was completely willing to follow Tsukauchi's direct orders without further protest. "Go on. Do as he says. Gather everything and prepare them to be turned over to him."
The nurse tensed up for a moment and then rushed out of the room to gather the requested documents. A sense of relief washed over me, knowing that things were going to be okay.
Now that the situation was resolved, I walked over and stood beside him.
"I gotta admit, before you picked up my call, I was worried you weren't going to be able to make it. It was pretty rude of me to rush you over here on such short notice." I said, lowering my voice to speak to Tsukauchi directly.
"It's nice knowing you haven't forgotten about me even with a rather busy line of work . When I said call me for anything the last time we spoke, it's a good thing to know you took it seriously. You can count on me." He said with a short nod my way, a faint smile on his lips. He went back to his serious expression in front of the doctor, who chose to keep quiet after the nurse left.
The wait seemed interminable, but eventually, the nurse returned to the room. When she came back, she was breathing quickly, showing that she rushed in scrambling all of the paperwork that had my name on it. Looking over to the doctor once more as if to ask him without words if this was really okay for her to do, he simply nodded and motioned for her to give everything she was holding over to the detective who was waiting on her. After she gave him the folder, Tsukauchi inspected its contents briefly before nodding in satisfaction.
"Thank you." Tsukauchi told the doctor and nurse. "Lyris and I will handle things from here. Have a good night." With a final, curt nod, he turned back to me, who was still standing behind him. "Let's get out of here." He said, holding the door of the room open for me.
"I'm glad you understand." I said to them both, reaching for my small bag to pull over one shoulder and my clothes. I folded up everything quickly and walked out into the hallway behind him.
When we made it far enough from what used to be my room, I shook my head in disbelief.
"I can't believe that actually worked." Tsukauchi said in a low voice, wearing a small smile on his face. "Usually, people like him tend to be pretty stubborn."
"I didn't think it was going to be that easy. There's no way I could've done this by myself." I said. "Thank you for this. It's hard enough managing undercover work without having to deal with issues like this."
"Keeping things secure is part of the job. We wouldn't want anyone stumbling across your records on accident... Or on purpose." Tsukauchi said. "There's no need to thank me, Lyris. What are friends for?" He shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips.
When I turned to ask if I could borrow his cell phone until I get a chance to charge up my own, he had already removed his coat and placed it over my shoulders before I could react.
"It was pretty chilly on the way here." He said. "Come on, I'll take you home since it's almost midnight. After you get changed into your normal clothes we can leave."
The hallway was mostly empty, the occasional nurse talking past us, a few patient rooms with the light still on, and a small group of doctors who passed by without giving so much of a glance from the papers they were reading. The less amount of people to see me leave, the better.
"I already called up here, you so late. Are you sure it's okay?" I wondered, walking towards the nearest restroom. "I could probably call for a taxi to pick me up or something."
"I don't mind, really. Besides, I'm already here. It would give me some time to ask you what happened and why you were admitted here in the first place. That's not something easy to find all of a sudden after knowing someone for so long. I know work keeps us busy, and it's been a while, but I don't want to see an old partner of mine get hurt on the job." His voice held genuine concern, and I felt I owed it to him and explain what happened to me.
Standing in front of the restroom, I turned to face him directly before I went in to change out of my current outfit.
"You're right. It's not fair to leave you in the dark. I'll fill you in on all the details... I'll be right out in a few minutes." I excused myself to change out of the hospital gown that I was wearing.
When I walked into the stall, I removed his coat and placed it on the hook behind the door. The first thing I checked were my eyes. Now that I was in front of a proper mirror, I was able to see more clearly the fading bruises and minor cuts on my face. I raised a hand to rest over my chest. My heart was still beating faster than normal.
'Guess I didn't realize how happy I was to see him again after so much time had passed. All the assignments where we've worked together came rushing back as soon as I saw him...'
Stepping away from the mirror, I changed quickly into my clothes and took his advice, and wore his jacket to prepare myself for the dropping temperatures outside.
"Hey." I waved to Tsukauchi. "Thanks again for getting here on such short notice." I said when I walked over to where he was leaning against the wall. He motioned for me to follow him down the hallway and into the main lobby of the hospital.
"No worries. I only just came back from a mission last night in another city, so I've been slow to pick up on anything on the news recently."
"You must be so exhausted! If I knew that, then I wouldn't have asked for you to clean up my mess. I should've waited until the morning. I'm sorry about that." I tried to apologize, but he grinned and waved a hand to stop me.
"It's okay. Really. I was already planning to head back out and grab something to eat before heading back home for the night. Imagine my surprise when I received a call from you out of the blue."
He opened the double doors for me and allowed me to pass first. As soon as I made it outside, a breeze gave me the chills, and I immediately wrapped his jacket that I was wearing tighter around myself.
"You're not just saying that, so I don't feel bad about it, right?" I shook my head with a sigh but wore a small smile on my face. "No way, aren't you cold?"
"Of course not, and you keep the jacket on. You look like you need it more than me right now. You're already shaking." He shook his head and then slowed down his pace to a full stop, making me almost bump into him. It was as if he was thinking about something for a moment, then turned to face me. "How about you join me. Hospital food can't be all to appetizing. I speak from experience." He offered.
'It's always been hard to say no to him despite how rare it is for me to get close to people...'
"I'll take you up on that." I agreed with a nod, feeling my own hunger now that he mentioned it. "Do you have a charger with you? My cellphone died on me literally right after I got in touch with you."
"If you didn't change your cell from last time, I should have the right cable for you to use in the glove compartment."
Walking up to his car, he opened the door for me, and I got into the passenger seat. He walked over to the driver's side and didn't waste any time to turn on the heater. He didn't start the car right away to let the heat start to raise the temperature until I slowly stopped shivering. He handed me the folder the nurse handed him earlier, and I placed it underneath my seat for now.
"Don't worry, I didn't actually look at it when I opened it up back there. It's best for me not to know." He said.
"I owe you one. By the way, when did you get a new car? I gotta say, it's a nice upgrade." I said, keeping my hands held up in front of the vent for just a little while longer to warm up my fingers.
"The car is still pretty new to me, but maybe a bit too fancy for my taste if I'm being honest with you. Plus, it's been so busy lately with everything else going on, and I had planned to take some time off when I got back... I just haven't had the time to decide when the right time was. To be honest, it's been a while since I've been able to relax like this." He admitted, finally starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.
"Everything exciting always happens when leaving town for a bit..." I shrugged. "After, uh, recent events, I think I should take some time off from work as well." I considered, remembering bits and pieces of the intensity from the day the villain attacked the precinct.
'I need to check on the other officers to see how they're doing. I don't have any updates to what happened to anyone after I lost consciousness. I'll give Miyo a call when I'm back home.' I made a mental note, checking over the cracked screen on my cellphone.
The car slowed down to a stop, and it made me look up to see everyone was at a standstill.
"With this amount of traffic, we have some time to catch up." He suggested after a few minutes before he broke the silence between us. "I'm glad to physically see that you're okay, but tell me what happened to you." The concern in his voice was genuine.
"You're absolutely right. It all started at the police station when..."
September 23rd, 2024