Eri looked around with fearful eyes as I opened the door to the clinic, but in a way her gaze made sense. The little girl was dressed in an old hospital gown, and if I had to guess, it was probably the only thing that she was allowed to wear. Going into a clinic is most likely one of the worst things that I could do to her right now, but I don't know just how bad her condition is so it had to be done.
Let's just get this over with.
I walked up to the front desk, Eri still in my arms, and stared at the man sitting there. The man seemed to be middle aged with a kind face, but Bakugo used to have a kind face before hitting me, so I didn't let the guy's looks deceive me.
"Good day," he greeted, "what seems to be the problem?"
I pointed to the girl. "She's injured and needs to be looked at," I explained, cutting to the chase.
The man's face remained the same, but his eyes became more serious as he nodded and led me to a small check up room. I put Eri down and tried to leave and sit outside the room to give her some privacy, but the girl grabbed my wrist with what seemed to be all her strength, making me stop.
I looked at the doctor who was watching the scene unfold. The man tipped his head to the side, indicating the chair next to the patient bed. I squeezed Eir's hand before moving over to it. The girl let out a small breath when I sat down.
The doctor tried to start the exam, it going well enough until he touched the girl's bandages. Eri's eyes opened wide in fear before going dark as she became docile. I looked away to give the girl her space but, It was like she was trying to make herself as passive as possible. I know that I probably shouldn't have, but I let her do this. Whatever trauma the girl has, it won't be solved with this one visit. If this lets her get through the exam for now, then I'll leave her be.
That's at least what I thought.
The doctor pulled out a needle to do some blood work, that was when the light came back to her eyes. When the emotions turned back on.
Eri looks scared.
I got up and went to the girl as she started scooting back on the bed to get as far away from the doctor as she could, and blocked her view of the doctor and the needle both.
"It's okay," I told her calmly, patting the girl on the head softly before turning to the doctor, angling my body so she could see.
I held out my arm to the doctor and motioned for him to take my blood instead. He did just that, pulling out a small bit of blood from my arm.
"See?"
I looked into the girl's eyes, watching them shake slightly while watching us, but I could tell that she was more relaxed than before. I felt my lips twist into a small frown at the sight.
I don't want her to trust me.
Eri is a girl that looks like she's been hurt her whole life. I don't want her to trust me and I leave her. I don't want to be just another person that hurts her.
The girl leaned back as if trying to make herself small. "He... he won't hurt me?"
It was the same question she asked me outside the building.
I leaned down in front of her, erasing the frown from my face. A cold look is always better than a hurt one.
"He won't hurt you. He's going to help."
The girl took a moment before nodding slightly.
The rest of the visit went without any more trouble, but the doctor's face became more and more worried throughout the visit anyways.
"Mister," the doctor said, turning away from Eri to look at me, "can we talk outside?"
I could see Eri gripping at the sheets on the bed. "I'll be right outside the curtain," I assured her. "It won't take long. Don't touch anything sharp, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
The girl nodded again before swinging her legs slightly as she sat on the edge of the bed.
I followed the doctor out of the small room. We walked down the hall just a bit, so that Eri couldn't hear us talk about her.
The doctor sighed heavily, dragging his hand down his face. "She's not sick in any way. I don't think the girl has even come in contact with many things that could make her sick during her life. It's highly likely that she was kept in a very sterile environment," the doctor explained. He seemed to know that I'm not the brother or guardian of the girl, and that I haven't had her for long. "She's malnourished and has scars all over her body. It's highly likely that she was being used as some sort of test subject."
I couldn't help but sigh. I'd expected something like this since I found her.
Damn it...
"Do you know what her quirk is?" The doctor asked. I shook my head no. "It's highly likely that her quirk was why they were using her."
"She wasn't experimented on, but her DNA was used for experiments is what you're saying?"
"Most likely, yes. It's probable that her quirk is dangerous to living organisms or could be made to be so."
It's probably connected to that horn of her's.
I couldn't help but sigh again. "Okay... what is it that you want in return for this?"
The doctor shook his head no. "I don't charge for these types of things. But we're going to have to admit her to a quirk facility until we figure out what her quirk is."
"I- okay..." I whispered, not seeing any other options. It's not like I have the resources to take care of her the way that they would be able to. If her quirk starts up and she can't control it, they have the means to cancel it, I don't.
I really, really, didn't like the idea of sending her to one of those places. I've seen the way that people treat those different from them in this society. I know the way that Hitoshi is treated at school. I don't want to send an already hurting girl to a facility that might hurt her more if her quirk does prove to be dangerous.
"Kid,"the doctor called, pulling me out of my thoughts. "It's one of the good ones. I would send any of the kids that come through here to a place that would only make them suffer more than they already have. You'll even be able to visit her daily."
"Okay," I told him with more surety. "I'll tell her myself."
The doctor nodded. I walked back to Eri's room, finding the girl playing with the him of her dress.
I need to buy her some actual clothes.
I sat down on the bed next to Eri, swinging my legs in time with her's. She looked at me sadly. "Are you sending me away now that you know who I am?" She asked quietly.
I shook my head no, causing the girl to look directly at me. I ignored this sudden change and continued to look at our swinging feet. "I'm sending you somewhere to teach you control of your quirk, but I'll visit every single day. If you want me to. It has nothing to do with what's happened, what's been done, to you."
"I'm cursed," Eri whispered.
I shook my head no. "No, you're not. But if you're not ready to believe differently right now, then we can be cursed together."
I finally looked at the girl.
"Don't look at me like that."
The girl's eyes were shining at me. She was looking at me the way that people looked at heroes on the street. It's not a look that I deserve to have directed at me.
The girl seemed to find this amusing as she kicked her feet with a little more energy.
"Thank you for saving me," she whispered.
I wanted to tell the girl that I just helped her like anyone who saw the situation should have, but I didn't want to kill her good mood.
—-
I called my mom on the way to the nearest clothing store and explained the situation, omitting some of the more dangerous details. The doctor had given Eri some shoes and an old dress for her to wear, but the quirk facility actually lets their patients wear the clothes that they bring with them, so we needed to buy some before we could take her.
The girl never smiled as we walked, but I could tell that she was in a good mood as she held onto my hand while we walked. She was swinging our connected arms and looking around at everything around us. I made sure to keep to the less busy streets so as to not overload Eri.
Mom joined us at the first store. She looked at Eri like she was the cutest thing that she'd seen in years. We got her seven outfits and a couple pairs of pajamas along with the other basic necessities before taking her to the facility. I snuck some of my own things into the mix.
I watched Eri closely, to make sure she was alright during everything. She seemed wary of my mother, sticking closer to my side once she showed up, but she didn't seem to hate her. It was because I was watching her that I saw the way that the girl's eyes lit up when we walked past a bakery. I taped mom on the shoulder before leading us in.
"You can pick one of anything you want, my treat," I told her, putting the girl that I'd been carrying down so she could look around.
She looked around before hesitantly pointing to something shiny and red. Candy Apple. I got her two, one for now and one for when I get to visit her. I saw my mom smile as she watched the light blue haired girl eat the sweet.
I guess I have a little sister now.
—-
That night I threw on the dark green hoodie and black goggles that I bought during the outing and snuck out my window.