75: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕
Nova woke back up in the hospital.
She hadn't been in a hospital for years, but she knew that's where she was before she even opened her eyes. There was light beeping from machines around her, oxygen being fed into her nose and stuff sheets wrapped around her.
When she finally did open her eyes she was met with a bright white light that burned her eyes. She let out a small groan as she tried to move. Her body was sore from head to toe. It felt like the days in her first week of Junshi. Where she was worked down to the bone, breaking her in they called it. They did that with any new class. she'd wake up miserable and sore, just to do it all over again.
But this was worse. The same sore feeling but stronger, it wasn't just her muscles. Her very bones felt like they were going to snap at any minor movement. It was a similar sensation to her knee when she overworked it, but it was in every single bone of her body.
Nova wished she was still asleep, unfortunately with this new pain she figured that was impossible.
"Nova, hey kid welcome back." Zel said lightly beside her.
Nova groaned again. "How... Long..."
"Don't worry, you've only been out for a few hours. How ya feeling?"
"...bad." Nova rubbed her eyes. She honestly couldn't believe she'd only been unconscious for a few hours. From the way her head was feeling she would have guessed days.
"You did really well out there.... I hate it came to that, but you saved a lot of people." Zel carefully put a hand on Nova's. Making sure she didn't make the pain any worse.
"Is everyone okay?" Nova asked, her voice was scratchier than usual. Like she needed a big cup of water, or maybe some tea.
"Yes other than a scrape or two everyone involved was fine. There were zero casualties." Zel smiled.
"Thanks to you."
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"Hello Nova, I'm Doctor Si."
Nova looked over at the man who walked in, if you could even call him that. He looked fairly young, probably in his twenties. With round glasses and curly ginger hair. It was more orange than red in shade, different from Nova's but the curly pattern seemed rather similar.
He seemed friendly, putting out a hand for her to shake. She felt better now, but that was due to the pain medication put into her IV.
"I specialize in quirk usage and drawbacks. Which as we know is the reason you're here." Si explained, he seemed just a little less confident than most doctors she's met before. But he already seemed nicer than the ones who she's seen so far today. The others really just ignored her as much as possible and did what they needed before leaving. "From what I can tell your quirk is really strong, and what you did this morning was incredible."
"Thanks... But sense then I haven't been able to use it at all." Nova mumbled, picking at the skin on her hands.
"Right, that's because you over used it... Think of your quirk like a muscle." Si touched his bicep, which Nova could tell was lacking. Even through his white coat. "The more you use it the stronger it becomes, you can start lifting small weights and eventually lift very heavy ones without much strain. But that's only if you build up to it. You're a hero course student so you probably know, what happens when you try to lift something really heavy without training? Or when you do a lot of physical activity without stretching?"
"You... Pull a muscle?" Nova asked with a frown.
"Right. That's what happened today. I'm guessing you've never moved a building before, let alone two. What's the biggest metal object you've moved all in one go?"
"Uh... A car?" Nova admitted. It was only when she was working on Karon's car that she moved something so big. And that was just to lift it onto cinder blocks so she could work on it easily.
"Awesome, but there's a very big difference between a car and and building right?" Si nodded with a smile. He seemed to be enjoying this, he had a love of quirks that reminded Nova of Midoriya.
"R-right." Nova said nervously. "There is..."
"But even though it strained you, you still managed to do it. Which means if you worked out your quirk as you would any other muscle... And built up the amounts in manageable ways... You could probably end up able to move buildings without having this effect." Si explained.
Nova didn't know what to say to that, she'd always assumed she wouldn't be as powerful as Rikko. Who was able to move buildings and cars and trains without thinking. According to the news reports she'd read anyways. But... She had never pictured herself doing something like that...
Until today.
"For now I suggest you rest it though. Your quirk is weak right now from being strained for so long. Try not to use it until you're able to do so painlessly, then only do smaller amounts and build up to the point you were at before the incident today. After you're where you were without having to strain keep working it out." Si suggested. "I'm also giving you some moderate pain killers. You're probably extremely sore and will be for awhile."
"Thank you." Nova said as he started to stand up.
"That's no problem, I'll go get your mentor and the medication. The nurses said you're free to go now, so you can leave after that." He smiled. "Good work out there, I think you'll make a really great hero."
"Really?" Nova asked with red cheeks. She'd never heard a stranger say that so confidently before.
"If course! I mean... Not many people are able to prevent the collapse of two buildings all in their own. Your quirk is something truly remarkable Nova." Si bowed respectfully. Saying something Nova never expected to hear...
"I look forward to seeing you in action one day, as a pro."
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
"Alright, you just stay here and get some rest okay kid?" Zel said, suiting up in her spare house.
Apparently the hospital that was closest to the incident was actually located in a city called Hosu. The closest one in the city they had been patrolling in was ten minutes farther. Coincidentally Zel's third house was also in Hosu. The final of her bases and apparently her first wasn't nearly as big or fancy as the other two. But it still worked for the two.
"I'm going on patrol, Hosu has a lot more crime than Musutafu does so I'm sure there will be plenty for me to do." Zel let her hair braid itself and crossed her arms. "Since you're still recovering we'll be doing a lot lighter training for the rest of the week. Instead of quirk stuff or the gear we can work hand to hand and just chat about how being a pro actually works. Since you have a permit though, you can stay in as an intern outside of this week if that's what you want."
"Yes... Thank you." Nova smiled lightly.
"In fact... While technically I'm not allowed to pay you for hero work since you're not fully licensed and you're underage... Legally I could still give you a salary for being a personal 'companion'." Zel said, her words implying enough.
She could make an income helping Zel with hero work as a sidekick. As long as she bent the rules by lying about why she was paying her. For being a 'companion' rather than a sidekick.
"P-pay? You don't need to do that-"
"Uh yeah I do, if you're helping me and doing all the work of a pro hero you deserve to get paid as one. I don't want to use you for free labor. That's pretty shitty, you know how much money you would have made for that save today if you weren't a student? A lot. That's how much." Zel sighed. "That check is being split up between me, Jeanest and Mt Lady instead since someone has to get paid. I'll give you some once it comes in."
"Wait... Hero get paid per save? Is that really how it works? I've always heard about getting paid through agencies..." Nova frowned, realizing she never really considered how rogue heroes made an income. But paid by the save makes sense.
"If you're apart of one then yeah, but some of us obviously aren't. The hero commission pays agencies monthly depending on how many sidekicks are employed and how active the agency is. Meanwhile people like be get paid depending solely on the work that I do. Think of it as a freelancer verses an employee. I get paid per job, they get paid per hour or just have a yearly salary. There are pros and cons to both..." Zel shrugged.
"I prefer it my way."
A/n: Lowkey a boring chapter... Sorry about that
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