Hospitals were supposed to feel safe.But this one didn't.Kaito sat in a too-big plastic chair, legs dangling, his fingers tangled around the straps of his backpack. The air smelled faintly like antiseptic and overripe fruit from the snack machine nearby. The lights buzzed softly overhead.Reina sat beside him, flipping through an old magazine. She didn't seem nervous.Kaito was.Today wasn't just any check-up.Now that his quirk had been registered as Push and Pull, the government required regular evaluations to make sure it was developing properly. That meant scans, tests, and worst of all—talking.His father wasn't coming.Too public, he'd said. Too many eyes.So Reina had taken the day off to bring him.Kaito glanced around the waiting room. Kids with casts. Toddlers chewing on stickers. A woman in a hero agency uniform tapping her foot near the window.Then, from around the corner, a man in a white coat appeared.He wasn't tall or intimidating. He had glasses, messy hair, and a tablet tucked under one arm. He looked more like a sleepy librarian than a doctor.And he wasn't watching where he was going.Neither was Kaito.They bumped shoulders gently."Ah—pardon me!" the man said, adjusting his tablet."S-Sorry," Kaito mumbled.The man gave him a small smile. "Happens all the time," he said before turning down the hall.Kaito rubbed his arm where they'd touched.There was a flicker behind his eyes.A soft ding, like a pop-up window blinking in his head—there and gone in an instant.He blinked.Weird.But he didn't say anything."Yukimura Kaito?" a nurse called.Kaito stood.Reina smiled and gave him a gentle nudge. "You'll be fine."He followed the nurse down the hallway, passing identical white doors, each marked with a soft digital display.They stopped at one labeled: Exam Room 4.The door opened automatically.Inside stood an older man in a crisp white coat. He turned toward them with a warm smile and thick glasses.Kaito didn't recognize him.But the moment he stepped into the room, that flicker returned—sharper now.His vision shimmered for just a heartbeat.Then something appeared behind his eyes.Not in the room.Inside him.Quirk: Lifeforce
Type: Mutation
Effect: Greatly slows aging. Extends lifespan via cellular regeneration.
User: Dr. Kyudai GarakiKaito flinched.But it vanished before he could process it.The man turned and held out a hand. "Hello there. I'm Dr. Garaki. I'll be doing your check-up today."Kaito reached out automatically.Their hands touched.A firm, friendly shake.And something shifted.A tiny warmth spread from Kaito's palm up into his wrist, like a soft spark.He didn't know what it meant.He only knew one thing.This doctor… was different.Dr. Garaki's office was quiet.Almost too quiet.The equipment was clean, the lights dimmed just enough to feel calm, but not enough to feel comfortable. A scanner was built into the wall near the exam bed. A rolling chair sat neatly at the computer terminal, and a slim metallic device rested on a tray nearby.Garaki gestured to the exam table. "Have a seat, Kaito."Kaito climbed up, eyes flitting around the room. He wasn't scared—just alert.Something about Garaki's presence itched at him.The man moved with practiced calm, his voice smooth, almost too warm. "We're going to run a standard baseline analysis today. Just to ensure your quirk is developing within expected parameters."Kaito nodded once.Garaki clipped a thin band around his wrist. "This will read your neural responses while you demonstrate basic control. Nothing invasive."He tapped a few keys. The machine whirred quietly."Let's begin with a small activation," he said, setting a pen on the counter nearby. "Can you pull that toward you?"Kaito inhaled.He focused—not too sharp, not too weak. Just enough to make it look natural. Familiar.The pen slid gently across the counter and came to a stop near his hand."Excellent," Garaki said, eyes never leaving the monitor. "Let's try the opposite now. Push it away."Kaito exhaled.The pen slid backward.Garaki nodded again. "Very stable. Minimal strain."The data streamed across the monitor in soft green pulses. Garaki adjusted a few settings, muttering quietly to himself.Then he asked the question Kaito had been waiting for."Tell me—how does it feel when you use your quirk? In your body, I mean. Where does it come from?"Kaito blinked.That wasn't on the form."I don't know," he said carefully. "It just happens. Like… like pulling on a string."Garaki tilted his head slightly, interested. "Strings. That's an elegant metaphor."Kaito didn't respond.Inside his chest, his heart thudded once. A little too loud.He glanced toward the door.Reina was waiting just outside.Just one wall away."Thank you, Kaito. You've done very well today."Garaki removed the monitor band and typed something into the system."Is my quirk okay?" Kaito asked quietly.Garaki smiled. "It's more than okay. It's perfectly in line with what we expected for a mutation-based gravity emitter."He stood up."I'll forward your results to your father directly. Nothing to worry about."Kaito hopped down from the table. "Okay."He turned to go—but hesitated at the door.Then, on instinct, he looked back at Garaki—And something inside him confirmed what he already knew.Not just the name.Not just the quirk.But the truth behind it.Quirk: Lifeforce
Type: Mutation
Effect: Extends lifespan and slows aging through cellular regeneration
Estimated Remaining Lifespan: ~80 years
Regeneration Index: 91.3% EfficiencyKaito's fingers curled against his side.He didn't understand all of it.But he understood enough.This man had a secret.And now…So did Kaito.That night, long after the lights were out, Kaito sat in bed with his real notebook resting on his lap.He flipped to a blank page and wrote:"Today I accidentally copied someone's quirk. I think it's called Info or something like that. I didn't even mean to do it. I just bumped into him in the hallway."He hesitated.Then kept going:"Later, I saw the doctor's quirk without touching him. It popped up in my head like a screen or game stat card. That never happened before. I think this quirk tells me about people—like what quirk they have and how it works."He paused, tapping the pen softly on the page.Then wrote:"I'm not telling anyone. Not yet."He shut the notebook and slid it back into its hiding spot under the floorboard.Then lay back, staring at the ceiling.Still confused.Still thinking.But more curious than scared.