18 Chapter 18: Quirk Examination Result

Kanata felt a mixture of excitement and fear as he waited for Dr. Tsubasa to announce the results of his blood test. He couldn't remember a time when he didn't yearn for a quirk. Ever since the day diagnosed as quirkless, the same day he started feeling like an outsider in his own family, he always wanted a quirk. His parents and siblings had powerful quirks, with his older brother and sister working overseas as pro heroes. His sister, fourteen years younger than him, also had a quirk. Even his parents were retired heroes.

Pushing those thoughts away, he focused on Dr. Tsubasa's words.

Dr. Tsubasa's eyes widened as he frowned. "I am sorry, Mr. Uchimura." Kanata's heart sank, causing Dr. Tsubasa to grin. "You have a quirk!"

"Fuck." Kanata heaved a sigh of relief as he felt lighter than ever. "Don't play with my heart like that, doctor." He groaned, smiling at Dr. Tsubasa.

"It's always funny when you guys react like that." Dr. Tsubasa chuckled and looked down at his tablet. "As I said, your blood, urine, and spit returned positive that you possess a quirk factor in your DNA."

He looked up at Kanata. "Everyone with a quirk has a quirk factor, but not everyone with a quirk factor has a quirk."

Kanata sighed, annoyed at the fact that Dr. Tsubasa was stalling. "So, do I have a quirk or not?"

"Yes, you do." Dr. Tsubasa nodded.

"I have a quirk?" Kanata felt his head spinning as he stared at Dr. Tsubasa in disbelief. He had always dreamed of having a quirk, but he had never expected to actually have one. "I...I can't believe it. What does it do?"

"Hmm..." Dr. Tsubasa looked down at his tablet. "From the information extracted from the quirk factor in your DNA, your quirk is a Mutant-type quirk that falls into the regeneration category. That means your quirk is a type of quirk that causes physical changes to your body."

"Regeneration?" Kanata asked as his fight with the werewolf girl flashed into his mind. 'So, she actually did slash my neck, but the quirk I didn't know I had saved me.' He felt his palm feeling sweaty. "Well, damn."

"It is a passive quirk, and it tries its best to keep you in perfect health, which is a state of complete physical and mental well-being." Dr. Tsubasa continued as he scrolled through the data on the tablet. "It keeps you free from disease, illness, and injury and makes sure you have optimal functioning of all bodily systems, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and immune systems."

"That's why I was never sick." Kanata mumbled, his eyes widening.

"Yes." Dr. Tsubasa nodded, looking up at him. "You have had this quirk since birth. You were never quirkless."

"I was never quirkless?" A flood of memories and emotions hit him like a ton of bricks. He thought back to all the times he was bullied and teased for being quirkless. He had tried to hide his lack of a quirk, but it had always been a source of shame for him. And now he has been told he was never quirkless? "All those things... had been for nothing?"

"It was, in fact, for nothing." Dr. Tsubasa shrugged, looking back at his tablet. "I've seen so many cases like yours. It's not uncommon for Mutant-type quirks like yours to go unnoticed in the past, especially if they are passive and don't have any obvious physical changes or abilities."

The mystery of how he didn't have a quirk when his entire family did, has been solved. He did have a quirk.

"Haah." Kanata let out an exasperated sigh, covering his face with his palm. He pushed all his emotions back, calming himself before lowering his hands and looking at Dr. Tsubasa. "What is so special about my quirk? From what you have said, it does what the body normally does, keeping itself healthy, just better."

"That's exactly what your quirk is. It just does what the body was designed to do, to maintain a state of physical and mental well-being, but at an accelerated rate." Dr. Tsubasa explained, scrolling through his tablet. "But your accelerated healing factor can potentially aid in building muscle quicker. After all, building muscle involves the breakdown of muscle tissue, followed by repair and growth through the synthesis of new muscle fibers.

"An accelerated healing factor would enhance the repair phase of this process, allowing for quicker recovery from workouts and potentially enabling more frequent training sessions." He paused, staring at the tablet screen for a few seconds before continuing. "It also allows for greater intensity in workouts, as the body can recover more quickly from the stress placed on the muscles. This increased intensity can lead to greater muscle growth over time."

"That's the reason I am so strong." Kanata nodded, cleaning his sweaty palms on his lap. I guess running, fighting, and getting beaten up a lot helped me develop my strength and resilience.' He clenched his fist, flexing. 'I should probably continue training. At least, then, I should be of physical use to Solomon. Like his personal bodyguard.'

"Precisely." Dr. Tsubasa agreed as he silently looked at the data on his tablet before saying. "It seems your quirk requires more calories than usual to activate, meaning you may need to consume more food and calories to keep up with the demands of the quirk. If your body doesn't have the required amount, your body's systems and regeneration will work at the pace of normal humans. So, calories are your activation requirements."

"Understandable." Kanata mumbled, his mind traveling back to Solomon. 'Is this why he seems to eat so much but never gains weight? Maybe my daughter had a quirk similar to mine, and the quirk is using all his nutrients and calories to get rid of all harmful things in his body. He lived close to a landfill for almost a week.'

He nodded at his reasoning, finding no flaw. 'So, he basically now has two quirks, regeneration and reincarnation.' He almost busted out laughing. 'The ultimate survival quirk combination.'

"By the way, we need to know the limit of this quirk's regenerative factor." Dr. Tsubasa said, looking up from his tablet. "Have there been any point where we regenerated small things like a lost finger, toes, or ears?"

Kanata remembered the time he regenerated from his throat getting sliced open by the wolf girl two days ago and thought of saying something about that but decided not to.

'I can't just say someone sliced my throat, and I regenerated in a few seconds.' If he did, he was certain. No, he knew he would get investigated. After all, why would someone want to slash his throat? 'With that investigation, they would likely learn of the 900 million yen in my bank account, throwing all of Solomon's work away.'

Deciding on his response, he shook his head. "Not really. I have never lost a limb or anything like that - I am not that careless - so I don't know."

"Do you want to test it out now?" Dr. Tsubasa asked, staring at Kanata as if he was looking deep into his soul. "You will need to take a quirk assessment in the Quirk Assessment Department because the government likes knowing the strength, weaknesses, and limits of all quirks registered in their database, and now is the best time since you are already here."

"That doesn't sound safe." Kanata declined, wanting to immediately return to the hotel and tell Solomon the heavenly news. "Maybe later."

"Well, your choice, but best do it before a month of your quirk registration. Failure to do so is illegal and can result in severe consequences." Dr. Tsubasa clapped his hands, smiling.

"Well, I will send your data to the government. Also, your quirk doesn't require quirk counseling, so you don't have to worry about it. And..." He stood up. "That's it. Congratulations, Mr. Uchimura, on your quirk."

"Thank you for all your help, Doctor Tsubasa." Kanata stood and bowed. "I hope we meet again."

"Likewise." Dr. Tsubasa replied, sitting back in his chair and turning his attention to his monitor, typing away on the keyboard.

"I will think about it." Kanata replied as he left the doctor's office.

Closing the door behind him, letting out a deep sigh which caused him to feel better than he ever did. 'I have a quirk.' He thought, not noticing a grin form on his face. 'I FUCKING HAVE A QUIRk---'

"I feel like we keep running into each other." A familiar voice snapped him out of his trance, drawing his attention to the woman he had met at the bar yesterday. "Why are you smiling? Did your quirk examination come out as positive?" Maemi asked, tucking her messy hair behind her ears. Her eyes looked red and puffy as if she had been crying, but Kanata ignored it as it wasn't his concern.

"It did." He replied to her question, grunting. "And it turned out I fucking had it my entire life but the quirk specialist that tested me twenty-five years ago misdiagnosed me."

"That must have come as a shock." Maemi chuckled as she moved out of the way of a nurse walking by with a young boy Kanata recognized as the speedster boy beside her. "I know I would be mad if I lived more than thirty years of my life as a quirkless person in this kind of society, and it turned out I had a quirk after all."

"You are right." Kanata replied with a shrug. "But there is nothing I can do about the past, so best forget about it and move forward from here on out."

Maemi stared at Kanata for a few silent seconds before smiling. "I like that mindset. Did Mr. Investor gain that mindset in losing money from investing through the years?"

Kanata shook his head. "From something else." he said while thinking. 'But no matter how hard I try to forget the past, that bitch always lives rent-free in my head.' He sighed. 'I should probably see a hypnosis doctor when I have the time.'

"Well, it seems like you have somewhere to go." Maemi spoke, snapping him back to reality. "Going to tell your fellow rich friends, I presume?"

"Right. Solomon." Kanata mumbled, remembering his former plan. "See you again, woman whose name I don't know." He said as he rushed away without waiting for her response.

After a few minutes of running around the third floor of the hospital, Kanata found himself lost, so he asked a nurse. She showed him the way, and he took them to the ground floor, immediately exiting Musutafu Hospital and taking a deep breath of the clean morning breeze. It was almost noon by now, and he had lots of time to spend looking for houses, but he wanted to break this news to Solomon.

Without delay, he called a taxi, paid the driver, and told the taxi driver to take him to Hikari Heights hotel. The drive was slow and silent, but not the awkward kind of silence, the respectful one. He was still focused on the fact that he had a quirk the entire time.

Everyone always asked if he had a quirk due to his inhuman strength, but he never understood why. He thought anyone could get as strong as he is if they trained hard enough, but it seemed that his quirk was at fault.

'I should have noticed this earlier.' He sighed, rubbing his forehead. 'I guess I am as stupid.'

After nearly 30 minutes of silence, the taxi arrived at Hikari Heights hotel. The building rose high into the sky with a reflective glass facade that glimmered in the sunlight. The front entrance was grand and impressive, with double glass doors flanked by tall, elegant pillars. The hotel's name, "Hikari Heights," was emblazoned in bold silver lettering above the entrance.

"Thank you for the ride," Kanata said as he stepped out of the taxi, closing the back door.

"It was a fun ride. One that wasn't filled with trauma dumps," the taxi driver replied with a smile, leaving Kanata confused.

Shrugging, he turned to walk into the hotel after showing his room card key, entering a spacious lobby filled with natural light, with the floor made of gleaming marble and the walls adorned with contemporary artwork.

"How may I help you, sir?" One of the hotel staff promptly appeared beside him, a consumer service smile plastered on his face.

"I am heading to my room on the seventy-fifth floor," Kanata immediately replied, retrieving his room card key from his wallet and showing it to the staff member.

The staff member called for one of his colleagues, who scanned the card key, proving its credibility. "Ah, Mr. Uchimura." The staff member said with a bow before gesturing for Kanata to follow him to the elevator bank. "Welcome back."

"Glad to be." He replied following the staff member to the elevator.

"Do you want anything sent up to your room?" the hotel staff member asked as he pressed the button for the seventy-fifth floor.

"Yeah," Kanata nodded as the elevator soared upward, giving him a breathtaking view of Musutafu city. "A light breakfast for my daughter and I would be great."

"I will tell the cook to set that up." The staff member smiled. "Would you like to watch the high-roller game currently ongoing in the casino on the seventy-third floor?"

"How high?" Kanata asked, already deciding he didn't want to but just wanted to continue the conversation.

"The minimum bet is five billion yen, and the maximum is fifteen billion yen." The staff member smiled, noticing Kanata's shocked expression. "I am sure you would like to. One of the high rollers is a child."

"A child?" Kanata glanced at the man. "Children are allowed to gamble here?"

"As long as you have the money, even a newborn baby is allowed to gamble in our casino." The staff chuckled, keeping his smile. "In a few hours, the child earned over six billion yen and joined the VIPs at the high rollers table."

"Three billion in a few hours?" Kanata felt a ping of envy for this child. "Intelligence-based quirks are frightening. Only a child, yet already a billionaire."

"This is why the world's wealth is concentrated to those with intelligent based quirk or those with someone close to them who has that quirk." The staff nodded in agreement, frowning. "Fucking Monopoly." He mumbled, too low for Kanata to hear, before quickly smiling once more. "Would you like to watch it, sir?"

"Yes." He nodded. He decided to take a peek before continuing as he couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity about the child who had earned so much money in just a few hours. "Take me to the casino."

The staff nodded and clicked the seventy-fourth-floor button on the elevator. After a few seconds, it stopped at the seventy-fourth floor, and they stepped out, with the male staff leading Kanata through the maze hallway and towards the casino.

The cacophony of slot machines and excited voices assaulted Kanata's senses as he stepped into the casino. The room was dimly lit, and the walls were decorated with expensive art pieces. He could smell the scent of smoke and alcohol in the air. Most of the people weren't playing anymore and had gathered around a specific spot in the middle of the casino. Kanata pushed his way through the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. As he got closer, he saw a group of eight men and women seated around a poker table, with a young girl amongst of them.

The young girl, approximately nine years old, possessed a delicate, almost fragile appearance, with a petite build that could easily be mistaken for someone much younger. Standing at a mere four feet tall, the girl seemed small and delicate compared to the suited men towering over her, with an olive skin tone that conveyed a sense of natural elegance and a round face that held an undeniable charm.

Her black hair was in a bob-cut hairstyle that stopped just above her neck, with thick, long bangs that veiled the top half of her face, leaving only a glimpse of her tiny nose and mouth. She wore a simple, black high-neck sweater with matching sweatpants and sneakers, with her hands never leaving the cards on the table.

"Wait..." Kanata froze, staring at the girl. 'Why am I describing this girl in my mind? Isn't that Solomon?'

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Author's Note

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I didn't post a chapter yesterday because I was too buys. Midterms week is coming up and I need to study because I am currently behind in two of my six classes. And I am also working, so I have less time to work on this fan-fic. But don't worry, after march 17th, update schedule should return to normal daily.

Fuck, I am slumped. My roommate is a business major and he isn't doing shit. I envy him.