Darkness clouded Killua’s vision as his head swam, barely conscious. His mind was fuzzy, unable to recall the past several hours. All he could hear, was faint beeping. All he could feel, was the dampness of a wet cloth over his eyes, and the plastic of some sort of mask against his face. Suddenly, his ears started picking up whispering from the other side of the room. “He’s got a raging fever, but that’s not all…there’s something else. It looks like he’s getting too much nitrogen, but how’s that possible?” Killua’s fingers twitched, but he couldn’t move them. God he felt like shit. I feel like I’m burning, freezing, and choking at the same time. The hell is happening to me?
“Is it a quirk?”
“No, we already checked for that.”
“He’s relatively stable now at least.”
“But for how long? We just slapped a band aid over a gaping wound essentially.”
“Just shut up already.”
The two voices quieted, Killua felt extremely light yet extremely heavy at the same time. He had just enough strength to speak, letting out a horrible hacking noise as he coughed. “Holy shit he’s awake-” Killua groaned, going limp once more. There were quick footsteps, and a gentle hand placed on his chest. “Don’t move, you need to save your energy.” A soft voice spoke, Killua found himself being soothed despite this disorientating and concerning situation. He felt himself start to fade into unconsciousness once more, letting the cool darkness embrace him in its entirety.
~~~~~~~~~~~~Aizawa’s Pov~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shota Aizawa rubbed his temples with irritation. He wasn’t sure why he’d been the one chosen to investigate this, but he was here so he might as well. “Alright.” He said gruffly, looking the very concerned nurse in the eye. “What exactly seems to be the problem here?” The nurse cleared her throat. “W-Well this case, its unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Someone found a teenager in a back alley hacking and wheezing like he couldn’t breathe.” Shota nodded, a tad bit irritated. He wasn’t a doctor, this wasn’t his job. “At first when we examined him, we thought it was easily fixable. But we took a closer look and it’s almost like…his body isn’t properly evolved to survive.” He raised his eyebrows dubiously. “What do you mean by that?”
The nurse looked troubled. “Eraserhead, the fact that this boy was alive when he found him should’ve been impossible. His body can’t take in the air we breathe.” A frown creased his lips. “So, he’s not alive I presume?” The nurse shook her head. “Oh! We managed to get him stabilized, although he hasn’t woken up yet. And he’s hooked up to a bunch of machines, but we’re working on a more compact solution.” Shota let out a soft exhale, well that was a relief. The nurse let out a sigh, raking a hand through her hair in frustration. “But he’s got no files. No identification on him, nothing. The boy’s a complete mystery. “
Shota peered through the glass separating this room from the boy’s. The sight of such a young man hooked up to six different medical machines tugged at something in him. Maybe this is worthy of a pro’s attention. Shota thought, as he watched the kid’s chest slowly rise and fall. Suddenly he noticed a small twitch of his left hand. Shota’s eyes widened. “He’s waking up.” The nurse quickly contacted several doctors on standby, just in case things got out of hand. Shota entered the room, slowly as to not spook the kid. “Can you hear me?” There was no response from the white haired boy for a few moments, then he heard a soft cough. “Ugh, I feel like shit.” Not really a response, but that would do. Shota placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Careful, make sure not to disturb the medical equipment. It’s the only thing keeping you alive right now.”
“What…happened?” The boy said softly. Shota took in a deep breath, then tried to explain the situation as gently as he could. “You were found in a back alley, having a hard time breathing. Under closer inspection, your lungs weren’t made to handle the air we breathe. Has this been an ongoing issue?” He couldn’t fathom why this problem would’ve just come from nowhere, the only way it made sense is if it was from birth. “No..? I’ve never even had any medical problems.” Shota nodded, thinking deeply about his next question. “What’s the last thing you remember?” He questioned, keeping an eye on his vitals just in case. The boy shifted slightly, with a thoughtful hum. “Fuzzy, but I think I was in a casino?” Casino? He frowned. “How old are you, kid?”
“Don’t worry I got a license, my age doesn’t matter.”
The puzzled hero thought on that for a moment. License? For what? “Can I see it?” Shota waited in silence for a few moments, as the boy just lay there. “Left pocket.” He turned to the boy’s clothes, which were lying on a table nearby. He’d most likely been transferred over to the hospital gown shortly upon arrival. Shota slipped a hand into the pocket of the shorts, removing a card which he presumed must be the license in question. However as he stared at it, he had a moment of confusion. It was nothing like he’d ever seen before, covered in strange symbols. Is that another language or are they meaningless? “What is this license for?”
“Hah? You’ve never seen a hunter’s license before, old man?” The boy spoke, with a hint of sass. Shota was irritated at his lack of respect, but relieved his condition seemed to be improving. Although the kid still had his eyes shut still strangely enough. “Never heard of it, I’m guessing this kind of hunting isn’t the woods kind?” There was another beat of silence. Shota glanced back at the kid, checking his vitals again to make sure he was still alright. “Isn’t the hunter’s license universal…?” He sounded hesitant, confused. Shota tapped a finger on the cold metal of the table thoughtfully. “I’m afraid I’ll have to cut this questioning short, once your condition improves you’ll go through another round with a professional in this field.” The boy let out a sigh. “Yeah, sure. Just get me out of this room as soon as you can.” Shota nodded, mostly to himself. “Just hang in there kid, we’ll figure this out.”
1075 words
To Be Continued…
I once read a fic with a premise like this one about a year ago on AO3, but forgot about it until recently when i read a book with a similar concept, really fell in love with this idea unexpectedly.
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