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Throwing Stones
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Blessed Quirk
Touya observed as Aizawa looked Eri's horn over cautiously.
"It's gotten bigger since she arrived." Kagome commented, "We don't know the exact nature of her power either. Just that she can't control it."
Most of the group had been sent out for the day but he'd opted to stay behind. Being the one person that'd suffered from a severe backlash of overusing his power, Kagome felt that it would be safer for Eri if he was around to guide her as best he could. Now that Aizawa was here, there wasn't much of a reason for him to stick around.
His fingers twitched at the thought.
"Have you thought about taking her to the hospital to have her quirk factor analyzed? She still needs to get a clean bill of health from the docs, yeah?" Touya cut into their conversation.
Kagome had mentioned that Eri said that her quirk 'breaks people'. Any number of powers could be deadly if used incorrectly so it was hard to narrow down the exact nature of her quirk by that description alone. Eri's mother had called her a 'monster' but said nothing else before she left. As for the girl, she wouldn't say anything about what'd led to her mother's rejection. Not that they wanted to push the information out of her.
Aizawa glowered at him, "Aren't you supposed to be working in the fields today?"
Touya shot him a cocky smirk, "I'm on babysitting duty."
He didn't need to clarify who exactly he was 'babysitting'. Despite the device doing its job to keep her heart functioning, it was better if someone could stick around and keep an eye on Kagome. Having her collapse while she was taking care of Eri would just traumatize the child. Especially if there wasn't anyone around that she could call for help. So that was another reason why he was here.
"It's fine," Kagome interrupted their conversation. "I have an appointment later this afternoon at Central Hospital anyways so I'll just bring Eri with me."
Touya folded his arms over his chest as he shot Aizawa a victorious smirk.
He'd won this round and the old man knew it.
Aizawa's scowl deepened by Kagome missed their exchange entirely.
"I think it's time we head out. It takes a few hours to get there." She cocked her head towards him, "Are you coming with us?"
The pro hero shot him a warning look but Touya simply smirked, "As if you needed to ask."
Kagome hadn't lied when she said that it would take ages to reach Central Hospital.
First they had to take the program's rented bus on an hour long drive to the next city over so they could board their first train. After that they had another two hour long train ride to reach Tokyo. They then had to switch trains and take one more that lasted over forty minutes. The fifteen minute walk to the Hospital itself was another adventure entirely, with cars running red lights and blasting through busy crosswalks like they were racing. He had to snap Eri up into his arms when she tried walking out on the green crossing light and a car nearly mowed her down. He'd just barely managed to snag her in time.
"Always go when it's clear. Don't trust cars to stop." Touya had warned her.
Since then he simply chose to carry her the rest of the way. It was safer and it put less stress on Eri and Kagome alike. The poor woman looked ready to faint after the near miss and for the first time since he'd met her, she'd let loose a string of profanity that would make even sailors blush. It was unfortunate that the car responsible hadn't heard a lick of it.
Touya eventually uncovered Eri's ears as they made their way into Central Hospital.
It didn't take long for Kagome to get checked in and directed to one of the waiting rooms in the back. Touya followed after her with Eri in tow. Aizawa tailed after them as they went with her as a single group.
The nurses took Kagome's normal vital signs before they cooed over Eri's.
"Oh isn't she just adorable! Is she your daughter?" One of the lead nurses gushed over the child.
Eri tucked her head into the crook of his neck, terrified at the sudden attention being put on her.
Touya pressed his palm to the back of her head in a soothing manner. He used to do this a lot for Fuyumi and Natsuo both. His relationship with Shouto in their youth had been too contentious but he could fondly recall how his baby brother only stopped crying in his early years when he held him. Apparently, all of his siblings felt more at ease around him when they were growing up.
"She's not our biological daughter," Kagome clarified as she smiled at the nurse. "We took her in recently but we'd like to have her quirk factor analyzed. She's something of a special case."
"Of course!" The nurse beamed, "We'll just need to take a blood sample from her. Will she be alright with needles?"
Touya shared a look with Kagome.
Neither of them had any clue, but most kids were frightened of needles.
"Can you do mine first just so that she can see?" Kagome offered.
"I don't mind volunteering as well." He added.
Maybe seeing the both of them go through it would help Eri feel more at ease.
"We do need your blood samples anyways Miss Higurashi, so that's not a problem." The nurse assured her, "We don't need yours but if Eri is still nervous we can do it afterwards."
Touya shrugged.
He shifted so that the girl could see the next nurse come into their room. She had a jovial personality and kept both Eri and Kagome in a conversation as she went about collecting Kagome's blood.
"Oh both of you just have gorgeous hair!" The nurse gushed, "Mine is so thin and flat. I'm so jealous of you two. That silver is so beautiful too!" She directed her attention to Eri as she finished collecting Kagome's samples.
Touya held the child as they started the process of drawing Eri's blood. The nurse kept Eri engrossed in their conversation that the girl hardly noticed the needle until they were already done.
The nurse wrapped both of their arms in the same color bands.
"Looks like you two match." He smiled before allowing the girl to clamor over to his girlfriend's lap.
In the end, his blood hadn't been needed for today.
They were left alone in the room for a good thirty minutes. He knew that hospitals were busy, especially this one, but he couldn't help but think that they'd been forgotten by the staff after a little while.
Eventually the door opened and the doctor swept his way into their waiting room.
"Good afternoon Miss Higurashi and little miss Eri." The man greeted them jovially, "My apologies for the wait. We were just waiting on Eri's lab results."
He and Kagome both sat up straighter.
"I'm going to be quite frank with you, the results of her test are quite astounding. The quirk factor she possesses is unlike anything we've ever seen before." The doctor took a seat as he glanced up at Eri's nervous expression, "Young lady, my I take a look at your horn?"
Touya tensed as he watched the man peer up at the golden light sparking out from the girl's horn periodically. The spark hardly came into contact with one of his fingers when he paused. There was a tiny paper cut visible on the side. Likely one he just incurred from flipping through their paperwork before he came in. The cut then slowly healed over as if it'd never happened. The doctor curled his finger inward in shock before sitting back in stunned surprise.
"What is it?" He pressured the doctor.
"This child doesn't just possess a normal power. This is neither Restoration like yourself Miss Higurashi nor Restructure." He then pushed his glasses up as he pressed on, "We discovered unusual markers in her quirk factor. Thanks to the blood test we know that her power only works on living organisms. On top of that it has a strange marker we haven't seen before. We've seen accelerant type quirks where aging and even life spans are sped forward, but if I had to guess then Eri's quirk is the reverse of those types."
Touya blinked as he fully processed what the doctor was telling them.
"So you're saying that this kid has the power to rewind people?" He questioned.
Eri began to cry as she buried her face in Kagome's chest. The woman folded her into her embrace and held her close to her heart.
"Indeed. Now I believe that Eri's quirk is a stockpiling one in nature. You've mentioned that her horn has grown larger since you've taken her in, correct?" The doctor didn't wait for them to answer before he continued. "We believe that she's currently storing a massive amount of power in her horn and doesn't know how to release that energy safely." His gaze shifted towards Aizawa, "It would be best if you were able to show her how to use that power in small fragments to keep it from becoming overpowered. It could be dangerous if all of that energy is released at once."
In other words, Eri could rewind a huge amount of people out of existence by accident if they didn't help her wield her quirk safely.
Touya bit the inside of his cheek.
This was going to be a lot harder than he'd hoped.
The man blinked, "Hold on, if you're saying that Eri can rewind people then would it be possible for her to rewind specific organs in a person once she gains control?"
Kagome looked up at him in shock, as if fully registering what he was asking. The doctor fell silent, his gaze shifting between them cautiously.
"It is possible but she's far from ready to perform miracles of that nature." The man then glanced at Kagome, "Your vitals all look healthy so I'll be sending you home with refills of your current medication. We'll reschedule for two months from now."
With that the man left the room and a heavy silence hung over them.
We was their key to saving Kagome. However the process to gaining control over her quirk would be a long and dangerous one.
Touya glanced down at the scars marring his own arms.
He knew first hand the result of pushing someone too hard before they were ready.
He rose to his feet and crossed the distance between himself and Kagome. Eri still sobbed heavily in her arms. She trembled violently as if terrified that she would be left behind again.
Touya lowered his palm onto the crown of the girl's head, "You know what I think kid? That power of yours is a blessing. So you should take pride in learning how to use it. There's nothing stopping you from becoming the best damn healer this world has ever see ." He paused before giving a small snort of laughter, "That is if you want to. No need to rush a decision like that."
The child finally calmed as she looked up at him in shock.
"My power… is a blessing?" Her tears steadily began to dry.
Touya smiled, "That's right. So stop calling yourself a monster. You just need to learn to control it is all."
Kagome nodded with him, "He's right you know. There's no need to fear it. That power of yours is a part of you. So there's no reason for you to deny it."
She lifted the child in her arms as they slowly made their way out of the hospital.
This really was a pipe dream but maybe, just maybe, they could use Eri's quirk to save Kagome.
His gaze lowered towards his girlfriend. A happy smile spread across her lips as she soothed Eri into a peaceful slumber.
He really hoped that this would work out.
A/n: So I think I'm going to take a two day break. I know what I want to happen for this story but actually writing down the words has gotten pretty difficult. This series has been more of a practice effort to stay focused and get things both started and finished on a timeline. Problem is that right now it's been a struggle just writing a few hundred words without disliking everything I've written. So I think I just need a reset.
I'm also using this as a sort of practice run since I've had an Inverse Universe (Villain) Hawks x Kagome x (Hero) Dabi otome style fic with routes in the works for a few months now. Basically where the reader's choices would determine both the pairing and ending. It would be difficult to pull off but for now I just want to try focusing on finishing my current series first. I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull something like that off, especially if I add multiple endings per route (good, bad, neutral etc), so this is all just plotting at this point. If I do wind up writing this, it'll be the sort of story that I would have to write out completely first and post all at once. I actually do have the complete plot line for Dabi's route ready to go but I never wrote it since the ending felt too cruel to Hawks plus there's some themes in it that I'm not sure I want to keep. So I'll worry about adding different plot elements and storylines after this series is complete which should hopefully be by Christmas.
All of this to say that my focus has been dwindling and I need to take a couple of days to re-aim my attention before I dive too far into different ideas. Especially with the otome idea trying to come on so strong again. So with that said, I do want to finish this fic before Halloween since I'll be visiting a friend late October and want to spend some time relaxing then before I start the fourth and final fic of this what-if style series. In any case, thanks so much for all of your support guys! I really do appreciate it!
