Just deserts: Revised edition

Medical Clinic, Musutafu.

"Come in, come in." Doctor Mimi said, "I'm sorry it's taken so long to get you an appointment; there has been a surge of quirks this month—apparently, it's a very populartime of the year, if you don't mind me saying."

The two women exchanged an amused glance over my head at the words, but I couldn't understand exactly what had caused it or why this particular part of the year would be more popular than any other—had there been a holiday that I had missed? I would have to ask Nanami.

"I bet it is," Hayami said, laughing. "This is my nephew, and I'm his Aunt Hayami—say hello to the nice Doctor, Hisoka."

I made sure she had no ring visible on her hand before speaking up, because the last time I had made that mistake I'd received a particularly nasty remark from the woman in question.

"Hello, miss," I said, nodding at the word. "It's nice to meet you."

"My—such manners." Doctor Mimi said, her tone pitched as if she couldn't believe I could even exist. "It's a pleasure to meet such a polite young man."

Oddly enough, Aunt Hayami was preening at the words, and once again the cause of exactly why that was the case eluded me.

"He scared the life out of me the other day by bursting into a pile of sand right in the middle of a sentence," Hayami said, shaking her head at her own words, the motion sending her long hair swaying about behind her shoulders. "Of course, sand is very on theme in our family; his father, uncle, and grandfather all had a similar quirk."

"That's not uncommon amongst families," Doctor Mimi said in agreement, "His father must be that hero who can turn the top third of his body into sand. I think I've seen him on television before."

"That is actually his Uncle, but yes, his father had much the same quirk," Hayami said, "I'm afraid his father is no longer—around."

Aunt Hayami sent a furtive glance down at me for just a moment near the tail end of her sentence, and I could only assume that it was in response to the subject of my father being brought up—I studied her face from a point of view that emerged from near the top of my ear.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Doctor Mimi said, ducking her head slightly at the words. "Hayami, may I ask—do you have a similar quirk as well?"

"Yes, I'm able to accomplish much the same as my brothers, except with stone—no sand for me, I'm afraid, but I think I got the better deal," Hayami said, apparently far more comfortable with talking about herself than my dead father. "I've made quite a living making sculptures, you see—statues and busts in particular—my quirk is quite applicable in that area."

"Ah—I believe I have actually seen some of your work as well," Doctor Mimi said, looking interested. "It is quite something to see."

"Yes, yes, that's sweet of you to say," Hayami said, eyes sparkling. "Thank you, darling."

I'd never seen her look so vibrant before, and I wondered how a stranger who had only just met her could make Aunt Hayami look at them that way with nothing but a few short words—was this a gift that all doctors possessed, or was she just particularly mighty?

"Well, let's see to Hisoka, then, shall we?" Doctor Mimi said, tone stretching into that high register again as she ducked down a bit to speak with me, "Can you tell me about your quirk, sweety?"

The odd tone drew my attention far more than the content of her words, but the expectation to answer her question that hung in the air was enough to direct me towards thinking about her question. It was broad, but it must have needed to be because she didn't know anything about me before today. I spent a long moment making sure that my answer would be relevant to what she was asking, and then when I was sure I wouldn't make a mistake, I spoke up.

"I am able to turn into sand and also control sand," I said before pausing. "I can make more sand as well."

My own words sounded odd and clumsy, the repeated use of the word 'sand' throwing it off entirely and sending my mind into a spiral of how I could have worded it better—I frowned in the aftermath of my mistake, wondering if she would let me try again.

"That's wonderful, Hisoka." Doctor Mimi said, smiling, "Does it hurt at all when you change?"

I studied her face, wondering if she thought my poorly worded response was wonderful or if it was my quirk that she was more interested in. It wasn't obvious to me which she had directed the comment at, and she was already waiting for the next answer, so I was forced to move on before I could ask for clarification. I considered the question. It was difficult getting used to seeing in every direction at once, but it had never hurt, nor was it particularly taxing. Falling apart didn't hurt either, but when I'd fallen over and scraped the skin off my knee, it had hurt—at least until I'd replaced my leg with a new one, after which it had been fine.

"No, miss," I said and then took a risk. "Do quirks usually hurt?"

"Unfortunately, some quirks do." Doctor Mimi said, her tone still pitched high. "Although I'm very glad to hear it's not the case with yours."

It was obvious now that she was changing her voice every single time she spoke to me and then back again when she spoke to Aunt Hayami. The reason she was doing it wasn't as obvious, but now that I'd noticed it, it was suddenly impossible to ignore, and after that, I found myself frowning. I had learned not to ask people about things like this in public because most people didn't like answering my questions and also because I didn't want to make Aunt Hayami feel uncomfortable. Doctor Mimi leaned all the way in and then covered her mouth with her hand like she wanted to tell me a secret, but when she spoke, it was easily loud enough for Aunt Hayami to hear, which seemed to ruin the whole purpose of it.

"Have you been using your quirk very much?" Doctor Mimi asked.

"Yes," I said, "I filled my room with sand last night."

"You did—" Hayami said, "I didn't see any when I woke you up this morning?"

"I made it go away before you came in," I said, nodding. "That's why you didn't see it."

"How did you make it go away?" Doctor Mimi asked, "Did it vanish, or can you—uh—absorb it?"

I'd heard the word 'absorb' before—notably when Moon Ninja tried to defeat stop an attack from blowing up the earth—but I didn't think I had a good idea of what it meant. I didn't want to say something that was wrong because that seemed like it would be very close to lying, and I had promised Uncle Sajin I wouldn't do that. I also wasn't sure if I was allowed to ask what it meant or if this was part of the quirk examination—I would wait until we went home and then look it up.

"I don't know where it goes," I decided.

"That's very interesting, Hisoka," Doctor Mimi said, voice taking on that strange quality again, "I have some more questions to ask you, okay?"

I frowned.