PUPPET // KATSUKI BAKUGO [1]

Chapter 72 // A Success and A Tragedy

You were brought back to a conscious state by a soft tapping on your cheek, and, when you opened your eyes, you found the doctor who had sedated you some time prior hovering over you.

"Welcome back," she stated, smiling. "Would you like to sit up?"

The doctor leaned back and allowed you to independently push yourself up into a sitting position. After doing so, you rolled your neck back, cracking some tense muscles.

"How do you feel?" the woman asked.

"Fine," you replied.

"Can you wiggle your toes for me?" she requested, and your brows unwillingly furrowed in confusion.

"Why do I need to wiggle my—oh," you silenced yourself as soon as your eyes wondered over to your bare feet, which had several stitched incisions starting from each toe and ending at your ankle.

"The quirk gene is most easily accessible through the toes, believe it or not," the doctor informed. "Can you wiggle them?"

You wiggled your toes slowly, cautious of the fresh stitches decorating your feet, and the doctor released an enthusiastic hum.

"That's good," she observed.

"So?" you questioned. "Am I back to normal?"

The woman cleared her throat and pulled over a nearby stool before sitting down beside your bed.

"Once we were done with the entire surgery, we injected you with a serum that's meant to exert quirks. It's completely harmless," she began. "It seems we were able to remove the bioengineered quirk that was given to you, so Rampage is no longer an issue."

"There's a "but" coming," you stated with a tired sigh.

"But," the doctor continued, "we were only able  to remove the invisibility aspect of the other three quirks that you were given. If we went poking around further, we could've damaged your original quirk gene and left you quirkless."

"So I just have four quirks instead of five now?" you questioned, trying your best to understand the situation.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "You still have your Puppet quirk to its full extent, including its invisibility aspect. However, you still have Paradox, Ephemeral, and Toxin, but they are not invisible anymore, which may be good or bad depending on how you choose to view it."

"Great," you replied sarcastically, looking back at your atrociously appearing feet, "still a freak."

The doctor chose to dismiss your comment and change the topic of the conversation by saying, "there're some people waiting in the lobby for you, and by some I mean an entire crowd."

"It's probably my classmates waiting to smother me," you replied, and, when you looked over at the doctor, you found her smiling. "What?" you questioned.

"You said "your classmates,'" she stated.

"Yeah, my classmates," you repeated slowly, "Midoriya, Todoroki, Kirishima, Momo, Iida, and all them. Bakugo's definitely here too. Although, while everyone else is probably waiting patiently, he's most likely mouthing off to the front desk that's he's been waiting too long, and, oh my god, why do I remember all their names?"

"Congratulations, [L/N]," the woman chuckled. "You've got your memories back."

"I've got my memories back," you repeated slowly. You swung your legs over the edge of the bed, your eyes widening. "Holy shit, I've got my memories back!"

"Careful!" the doctor exclaimed when you planted your feet on the ground and made a b-line for the door. "Don't rip your stitches! Wait!"

"What?" you chuckled as you whipped around to face the woman, your hand on the door handle.