Paperpuscher 101
patreon
Chapter 7
🕑 Added 2025-02-25 20:00:06 +0000 UTCJapan, Shizuoka Prefecture, Musutafu City. Year 2253.
In the months after Saiko was brought into the fold rather unexpectedly, their discoveries grew quickly from that point onward. Her intellect, be it boosted or not, allowed her to analyse his Quirk much easier than otherwise might be possible. Not to mention that Hari didn't want to reveal his Quirk publicly right now so that it was added to the registry, already aware the problems it would bring him in the future. Be it from the government or hysterical people scared he'd twist their Quirks to his whims and proclaiming him a villain.
Obviously he needed to experiment with the Quirk to gain experience and know its true capabilities and limits. The problem as to how to go about it had been hotly debated by him and Saiko, with Himiko just happy to be included. The suggestions ranged from offering back-alley help to the unsatisfied masses with unwanted Quirks, up to opening a legal business to do so. Due to the problem with the latter option being that he'd have to make his Quirk official, so to speak, Hari chose the first one. For now.
The first problem was that he only had had one single Quirk saved in his storage at the time, New Order from Star and Stripe. Not a thing he would just give a random person he didn't know at all. Neither could he really go out in public and ask people if he could copy and store their Quirks, now could he? Instead he simply walked amongst the masses and discreetly stung all kinds of people before offering services anywhere.
As they learned quickly, his left hand was for acquiring a Quirk's genetic makeup while the right was for bestowing it upon a person. Meaning should he lose just one hand it would pretty much make the Quirk quite useless to him. Furthermore the workings of his Quirk, which Saiko fittingly named Gene-Forge, weren't as simple as just taking a Quirk and slapping it onto another person. No, that would've been too easy and wasn't how genes worked anyhow.
The result was most often more of an alteration to the pre-existing Quirk of a person than a simple addition. Similar to how the Quirk of a child could be the combination of the parents' Quirks. Though even that occurred within degrees, depending on what kind of Quirks he was integrating together. For example combining two Emitter-types could be done, but it grew more complicated or impossible depending on the inborn mutations needed to let each function without issue.
What he didn't tell Saiko or Himiko was that he learned he could cheat a little with his Magic, influencing or coaxing the outcome towards one possible end or another. Though, even then Hari was quite sure it was impossible to slap multiple non-compatible Quirks onto a person without inflicting severe damage, maybe even causing cancer or other issues. He and Saiko estimated that two additions was the limit, with three maybe for Quirkless people or exceptionally compatible cases.
Their base of operation, if you could call it that, wasn't inside an abandoned warehouse or other extremely shady locations. No, that'd be a little too obvious for anyone with eyes in their head. Instead Saiko had the absolutely brilliant idea for him to operate out of one of many back alley clinics for desperate people. Also automatically carrying the added benefit of offering inbuilt clientele for them in form of Quirkless or other ostracized people. The clinics were a little distasteful, but not illegal and they had made sure to chose a rather reputable one.
As a cover story Hari had told his brother and mother that he volunteered there to help the needy. Which strictly speaking was not a lie. Even if he had to physically stop Izuku from following more and more. Though, how the trio found the one Hari now operated out of was a story of coincidence and luck rather than choice.
--------------------------------------------Flashback----------------------------------------
"Another failure, then?" came Saiko's resigned voice as Himiko and Hari returned from their visit to one of the candidates to their future project. Himiko was disguised as a small middle-aged man – the blood stolen from a clinic she had visited earlier – to sell their story better and not look so suspicious to passers-by at this time of day.
"Yes." Hari sighed out in disappointed agreement. "The doctor didn't strike me as mentally sound, he also used his Quirk without license." while that could easily qualify him as a villain an bring Pro-Heroes down on him, the criminal connections didn't bode well for their endeavour either. It was slightly hypocritical due to them basically planning to do the same thing themselves, but mitigating risks was a prudent thing to do.
"How do you know that?" the genius questioned, her voice curious and wondering how he could know something like that. It wasn't like people advertised such things. Saiko's attention was briefly caught by Himiko, who currently was inspecting her borrowed body curiously, making the genius shake her head in exasperation. Thankfully Saiko was reasonably sure the disguise included the clothes, being more like a suit she put on than a complete change of her entire body. Well, if she chose to put on a disguise that included clothes and not simply go naked as her target. Though that offered interesting avenues for character assassination.
"I said he wasn't mentally sound, didn't I? He also mumbled a lot, like Izuku." Hari commented idly.
"Just not as cutely." Himiko supplied helpfully, giving her fellow girl a teasing grin that looked out of place on her current face. "Right, Saiko?"
Outwardly there was nearly no reaction, outside of a slight pink dusting on her cheeks. "Right." she tried to deadpan, but changed the subject relatively quickly. "There's one other we can try."
'Bloody Puberty.' Hari sighed inside his head, not looking forward to relive that particular ordeal. "Alright, lead the way then."
With that Saiko took out her smartphone and activated its navigational function, whereupon the three made their way through the grimy streets to their new destination. It didn't look too rundown, all things considered. With a flickering neon-sign of a red cross being the only indication of what was inside.
The commotion and shouts they heard going on inside did cause them some worry, however. Saiko frowned in annoyance, while Himiko looked insecurely to Hari. The choice to leave was taken swiftly when the metal door was thrown open and a man flew out of it, impacting the opposite wall harshly. A rage-filled voice shouted after him. "Extortion is the thanks I get for cheap but excellent medical treatment?!"
"Please!" he moaned out pathetically as he lay in a heap on his side, one arm outstretched to the open door as if to halt someone's approach. From the looks of him he looked like a Yakuza, denoted by the tattoos peeking through his suit. It seemed the rumours that the Yakuza were desperate indeed were true, if they tried to extort protection money in a place such as this.
"Don't you dare show your face here again!" came the squeaky but incensed reply from within.
Having learned from her prior encounter to not trust such people, Himiko took one of the nearby empty garbage cans and beat him over the head with it. Effectively knocking him out. Of course her disguise chose this moment to run out of time and flowed down her body, revealing her true and much cuter form underneath.
Luckily Hari by now was prepared for such an occurrence, always carrying with him a change of clothes for her in cases such as this. "Here you go, Himiko-chan." he offered, looking away as he did so.
She did not take them, instead looking at him with a smile he did not see. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she teased with a pout. "I'm still full of sludge, you gotta make me clean."
With a long-suffering sigh and an eye-roll from Saiko he did just that. Only not how Himiko imagined it. Instead of simply vanishing the mess clinging to her body he did something else. "Aguamenti!" he intoned, conjuring a relatively cold stream of water to douse her with, making the blonde squeal in protest.
"Stop, you meanie!" she sputtered, holding out her hands to try and stop the blast of water. Utterly drenched and shivering from head to toe after ten seconds, but clean. Slitted eyes glared in mock-anger at him from behind wet and messy bangs, however she still accepted the towel from a vindictively grinning Saiko.
"Am I interrupting something?" a voice, this time a raspy female one, asked in an amused tone, coming from the inside of the building. A second later a light went on, revealing an old woman. "My, my, my..." she purred, coming closer to the sound of heels clicking on ceramic tiles. "The youth of today really has no shame." one could feel her eyes and judgement sitting on Himiko. "My sweet and innocent son was overwhelmed, and didn't know what to do with you." she said, pointing towards a little bit behind her.
The group followed the gesture and saw a huge shaggy beast try to poorly hide itself around the corner. Embarrassment and maybe even shyness radiating from the behemoth.
The words made Himiko shrink a little in on herself, making Hari respond on instinct. "Why should she?" he asked rhetorically, standing between his friends and the stranger. "She's got nothing to be ashamed of, as far as I can see."
His words made Himiko and Saiko blush and the voice laugh. "A little pervert, I see. Not surprising for your age." a rustle of clothes signalled a shrug. "Now, what are three little kids doing here at this hour?"
Saiko took over from there, knowing her male friend's protectiveness could be detrimental to establish new relations between people he deemed unsuitable. To be fair, – she conceded in her mind – he seemed to have a nose for untrustworthy people. "We're here with a business proposal for you."
The alley was silent for a few moments, letting tensions rise slightly. "I don't know if you're bold or simply as shameless as your friend." the still concealed woman replied, slight fondness leaking into her tone. "Well, I suppose you did help me out a little bit. So I guess I can hear you out." it was said more like one might indulge a child's delusions rather than seriously contemplating their words.
An hour later that had changed quite considerably.
----------------------------------------Flashback End---------------------------------------
Himiko and Hari arrived just in time at the clinic.
"Good afternoon, Doctor Tony." Hari greeted one of the people working in the family run clinic, followed by Himiko doing the same. Well, man was a bit of a stretch, considering the quite obvious fur all over him and the impressive antlers protruding from his skull. The doctor's full name was Tony Chopper and his Quirk was a pure Mutant-type, which made him look like an anthropomorphic stag that had a blue nose on his snout.
"Good afternoon to you two as well." came the cheerful reply with a voice that sounded slightly childish. Contrary to his sometimes scary looks the human deer was rather up-beat individual that was very vulnerable to compliments. Most likely stemming from the fact that he had been abandoned as an infant by his parents, presumably due to his full-body mutations. Another reason soon made itself known.
A voice, rougher and scratchy from smoking but still feminine, interrupted them swiftly. "Slacking off again?!" the speaker was an older woman with long grey hair, a face full of wrinkles decorated by a large pointy nose and named Kureha. In one hand she held a bottle of self-made moonshine while she held a cigarette between her chapped lips.
Despite her obvious old age she still possessed a slender figure she took no time to showcase by mostly wearing leather clothes with flame motifs on them that were more fit for a young biker chick. Evidently not really ready to act her age.
Her Quirk, named Inoculation, was a Mutant-type and simply allowed her to be immune to the effects of diseases and all kinds of poisons; be it venom, alcohol, tobacco or even harder drugs. While she didn't take the latter Kureha was an avid smoker and drinker due to it. The downside to it was that her immune system was so highly aggressive that it even destroyed her own egg-cells, seeing them as faulty and in need of removal.
Hari rolled his eyes at that, already knowing the woman's rough exterior was mostly an act. The exceptions being layabouts and fools. "No, just greeting each other, you old hag!" he said with a mocking grin one could hear. Tony waved his hands frantically as if that'd stave off the confrontation. Himiko giggled and enjoyed the banter gleefully.
"Old?!" came the incensed and shouted reply, the woman drawing nearer as heels clacked on the tiled floor. "I'll have you know my beauty is still in full bloom, midget!" referencing the fact that both Saiko and Himiko were taller than him right now, puberty hitting girls earlier than boys.
Hari snorted at that, one eyebrow raised in clear disbelief. "Yeah?" he made a show of looking her up and down, deadpanning. "Looks decayed and shrivelled to me. Ready for the compost heap."
"Decayed and...?!" she gasped out, the cigarette falling from her wrinkled lips. Gripping the bottle in her hand so hard it broke, splashing the remnants of what was basically disinfectant onto the floor before roaring in outrage. "Why, I ought to beat some sense into you!" Kureha wound her arm back to prepare a punch, but Tony got between her and Hari. "Out of my way, Chopper. You're not so old that I can't lay you over my knee!" she threatened, but the edge in her tone wasn't there.
"He's just a boy." the anthropomorphic deer half-pleaded, putting one hand on a grinning Hari's mouth to not make things worse. "Besides, he's needed today."
Kureha then locked gazes with an innocent-looking Hari for a few more seconds before spitting out. "Fine!" She then promptly huffed and ignored him. Instead she turned to Himiko and leaned down with a soft and indulgent smile. "Ready for another anatomy lesson, Himiko-chan?"
"Yeah!" the blonde girl cheered. Kureha always taught her the best spots on where to stab people. Not to mention that sometimes she got blood as a reward for doing good. It didn't taste nearly as good as Hari's, but it was much better than nothing.
Once the two were gone Hari was taken by Tony to the usual room in the back, where he'd perform the procedures of today. Due to the secretive nature of the act, selecting the correct patient was crucial. While the payment for it was a good bit of money and being allowed to take a copy of their Quirk so that it may help another in the future.
"Do you have to antagonize her so?" Tony asked.
"No," the boy said with a roughish grin. "but it's fun."
The monstrously looking man sighed at that, knowing both Kureha and Hari were incredibly stubborn individuals. "Just... don't overdo it." while he could understand and even empathize with people who found the personality of Kureha thorny, he still owed the woman a great deal. Not just for raising him as her own but also teaching him all she knew about medicine. Which was a huge amount, considering the near complete overhaul the field of Medicine had experienced after the emergence of Quirks. Today a doctor had to constantly learn and adapt, even after becoming a doctor. Especially general practitioners.
If not for her guidance he probably would've been one of the many Heteromorphic people that took to crime and ended up as a statistic.
"Of course." the small wizard assured with a nod before changing the topic. "What's on the agenda today?"
Back on familiar ground the doctor was glad to move on and elaborate. "Right now we have woman who is in possession of a Quirk named Mermaid. As the name implies, in place of legs she has a fishtail."
"Problem being?" came the reply as they entered the room. While it sounded and was inconvenient, there were some obscure enclaves that catered to Quirks such as that. Offering life underwater for those unable or unwilling to live on the surface due to their Quirk.
Here Tony grimaced. "Well, while she does have the lower half of a fish, she does not possess gills or another ability enabling her to breathe or survive underwater."
"Ah, so one of those." he grimaced with a sigh. While most people saw Quirkless people as a remnant of a bygone era, that didn't mean everyone with a Quirk was better off. There was many a Quirk that was a hindrance or even a danger to those in possession of it, instead of a boon. In this case all the Quirk Mermaid accomplished was condemning the user to a life inside a wheelchair. "Well then, let's get to it."
He did have some ideas for solutions to the problem already. One being a Quirk that enabled the user's skin to breathe water. However it had forced the man who Hari had copied it from to a life underwater or to be constantly wet, due to him only possessing small underdeveloped lungs as a result of it. The second option was the ability to simply hold ones breath for hours and a few more that instead allowed for an easier life on the surface.
In the end she chose the first one, allowing her to finally join her family proper.
The rest of the day went over similar to this, with a few more patients being modified by Hari to ease or erase their suffering. One was a man who had the misfortune of being born with a Tanuki-sized scrotum. The solution to which had not been modifying his Quirk, but a simple potion in form of a Shrinking Solution. A from then on permanent state of affairs without the proper potion to reverse it. After that came a more confusing case of a man with the Quirk that allowed him to sprout crystals all over his body.
"So, what's the problem?" Hari asked, more than a little perplexed at the case in front of him. The crystals weren't brittle, didn't rip open his flesh to sprout from his body nor had a downside in their creation in form of needing a specific diet, aside from some helpful additives. The only downside was that they obviously ripped his clothes to pieces upon being summoned en masse, but that was more an annoyance than a detriment. To Hari it seemed he was simply an overly pessimistic man.
The bald and muscular man sitting in front of him had a large brow that seemingly permanently cast his eyes in shadow. He was wearing not the best clothing, with his shirt, trousers and shoes being in tatters. Not to mention the various laceration just scabbed over and still purple bruises on his body, indicating he had taken a beating very recently. He was named Yu Hojo and lamented strongly. "I'm not useful enough!"
Chopper was nearby and equally confused as he prepared to treat the man's injuries. Not having expected the grave description he had been given to be a lie which blew things out of proportion. Though, he also knew that happened sometimes and that as a doctor it wasn't his place to dismiss his patient's pains or judge them insufficient. After all, he did not know the life they had led, and to do so would also only make people dig their heels in. As such he simply asked gently. "How so? Your Quirk seems plenty useful."
In response the man snorted derisively and grew a sharp crystal out of his palm, before breaking it off with his other hand and letting it fall to the floor. "These are absolutely useless, not worth a single Yen!"
'Or maybe he's just greedy?' Hari deadpanned in his mind at the perplexing man. Pinching the bridge of his nose to prevent a headache, he pondered the situation some more while Chopper tried to treat the man's injuries. "Well, the crystals itself don't have value, but that doesn't mean you can't make them valuable." he pointed out.
"Don't you mean you can make them more valuable?" Yu demanded, thick arms crossed in front of his chest, chin held up in expectation. After his rather thorough beating by his previous place of employment he had heard about this clinic from a homeless man, who swore up and down he had seen people come and go from here changed. That the clinic was able to add, remove or alter Quirks on a whim. Obviously the people with common sense saw it as the ravings of a poor Quirkless bastard finally snapping, but what did Yu have to lose at that point?
The raven-haired boy shrugged. "I'm only able to change Quirks with ones I already have in my possession. Which right now only includes a cavalcade of useless and even detrimental Quirks. All of which don't pair well with yours." he explained as Chopper began treatment and bandaged wounds, obviously not mentioning New Order. "However, you're quite capable of making those crystals valuable yourself."
"How so?" normally he wouldn't take advice from a boy. But at the low point his life was at, what did he lose by listening?
"Well, you won't be able to make its inherent value go up by changing its chemical makeup to diamonds or something of that nature. That much is true." there were quite a few Quirks today that were able to create or transform things from one thing into another, as a result most basic resources were quite cheap today due to overabundance. Prices were being kept in check by strict regulations and ruthless enforcement of them. Only substances with unique properties created by a Quirk were more valuable, depending on the applicability of said substance.
Some families even grew to be titans of industry due to such things and being at the right place at the right time. The example for Japan being the Yaoyorozu family. While counting as Japanese by today's standards, they had rather deep roots in Europe and Russia in particular.
"However, a things value increases if labour is invested and it is refined." Hari continued, picking up a nearby scalpel. "Normal steel alone isn't very valuable. But if crafted into an exquisite sword or other useful tool its value rises significantly, depending on the effort and demand involved."
The man nodded, things made sense so far. He just didn't see how that applied to him and told the boy as much.
It was time to emulate his brother a bit, Hari thought. Once more promising himself to soon tell Izuku about what was going on. Already feeling like a damn asshole for dragging it out so long. "Can you influence the shape of your crystals? Make them grow in ways they're not supposed to?"
"I've... never tried." he admitted, trailing off slightly stunned.
Hari nodded like he had expected such an answer. Once their Quirk was discovered most people simply assumed how it functioned, also not experimenting or refining their ability very much. Which was why many people were blind to parts about themselves they took for granted that others could see. "I want you to start simply; try and grow a needle."
Brow furrowed in concentration, Yu held out his right arm and tried to let a small needle grow out. What came out instead was a rather jagged spike of three inches in length, soon falling to the floor.
Before anyone could say more, Hari clapped. "A good start." he praised, picking up the spike and holding it between both hands. "With time you'll most likely be able to create works impossible to achieve with mundane methods. I'm sure some people will be interested in such works of art."
Once the man was satisfied – without even needing to modify him too – the little wizard waited for Himiko to be finished before going home. Feeling good about himself for improving people's lives without having to fight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japan, Western Tokyo, Hosu City. Year 2253.
The rows of desks shone as dark and luminous as volcanic glass throughout the facility made of concrete, bearing laptops with the heft of small briefcases, pocket-sized touchpads, and the occasional taupe coffee cup. Cops moseyed about the minimalist space in their black and blue uniforms. Pistols and restraints of many varieties hung from the belts of those on duty, their bulletproof vests laden with pockets for flash grenades, tear gas flares, and whatever manner of crowd control the white coats in R had dreamed up. The office-bound officers sported sleeves rolled up casually to their elbows, their scarred arms and the wire-like veins of various enhancement Quirks on open display.
A man in a detective's uniform and a pair of white gloves walked with quick purpose toward a door leading deeper into the HQ. He was tall for an otherwise ordinary looking Japanese man, sporting black hair that was cropped short and slightly rectangular brown eyes. A harried officer with the head of a ginger tabby cat and yellow eyes greeted him on the way.
"Hello, Tsukauchi! You up for a drinking tour through some nice bars with the boys?" Sansa Tamagawa greeted with a wave. Followed by a slightly confused expression on his face – for those who knew how to read it – upon Naomasa shaking his head. "Really, isn't your shift over by now?"
A subdued and slightly sheepish chuckle came in reply. "I've got some paperwork to catch up on." Naomasa replied as he walked past, waving back.
Sansa grimaced in sympathy, patting Tsukauchi on the shoulder. "Don't let me stop you, then." he joked.
"Thanks."
Once Tsukauchi Naomasa was in his office and sat at his desk – mantle and hat hanging on a nearby rack – his shoulders sagged with the weight of a city. A mound of baffling and additional paperwork splayed out before him. The bureaucracy, the crime, the public indifference to his profession – it all took a toll on him, struggling to uphold law in a world seemingly destined to anarchy.
'I really could go for some beers.' he thought in exhaustion before banishing the thought. "That's unbecoming of me." Naomasa told himself, straightening his spine and getting started on the paperwork. "All Might doesn't stop despite his injury, so a little exhaustion is nothing in comparison." a look at the stack of papers he sighed. "Even if he could dial down the number of incidents he solves. I've got enough work as it is with those Instant Villains."
Ever since he had met All Might – or rather Yagi Toshinori – Naomasa had taken it upon himself to file the hero's reports properly. Largely done because the No.1 Hero was not doing so himself, due to being heavily overworked since his debilitating injury. It was humbling and inspiring at the same time to see the Symbol of Peace forging ahead despite it.
While he was working through All Might's reports Tsukauchi noticed something odd, though he shelved these concerns for later. However, they ruminated in the back of his mind before coming back with a vengeance once he filed the last cases of petty crimes, where the perpetrator was only classified as a Villain due to using their Quirk to facilitate the crime. Due to the perpetrators Naomasa couldn't help but draw parallels to the most high profile case he worked on; the Villain Factory and their Instant Villains born from Trigger.
"Takamura Hiroshi, Yamamoto, Kaito and Yoshida Juuro. All three of them exhibited abilities they formerly did not have." He looked into their files and the registry and sure enough, their Quirks had changed considerably. It did happen sometimes that people updated their Quirk registry upon learning something new about their Quirk or how it functioned, however not to the degree of such an alteration.
"Could the Villain Factory and these be connected?" he pondered, driving a hand through his hair, eyes squinting in concentration. "Not an ounce of Trigger in their system, unlike the Instant Villains before them. Nor did they carry the scars of heavy bodily augmentation." the detective mused, poring over the available data. A disturbing thought struck him then. "Did they refine the process in such a short amount of time? Or how long did they work on this already?"
Seeing that the three suspects were still in custody and at which station, Naomasa resolved himself to a long night of interrogations. In a few minutes Tsukauchi was on the way to them, dialing a number only a few people had access to.
"All Might, I've got a lead you might be interested in."
Comments
Jebest4781
Looks rather well on how this went.
