- Location
- Somewhere North of south
Huh, my next guess would have been a flat chest joke.
A Certain Scientific Clone (Toaru/Raildex Misaka Sister SI)
- Thread starter Borrowing
- Start date
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
Nope, this is set in the Current Year in Railgun/Index terms
Also, Mikoto is 14; however, we're not told that Minami is 14 physically in any of the earlier chapters, are we?
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Petition to rename the good doctor Kero-sensei.
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- Location
- Hug the Moebot; Save the world
Hah so the person who joked that the other clones would call her younger sister might not be completely off the mark. If she does actually have the body of a 12 year old she will come across as Mikoto (and the clone's) younger sister. plus it certainly gives her a reason to be going to a different school.
Does she have the weapons training the rest of the sisters have?
Also is she influenced by the will of the Misaka's?
Also is she influenced by the will of the Misaka's?
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
Took me around half a minute to realize that Minami had not been specified as to the nature of her age she was physically younger than any of the clones. On the positive end, no one will mistake you for Misaka Mikoto or any of the clones unless they have no idea what was her age. On the not so positive end, you may now imagine Kuroko fantasizing about a younger Misaka she can act like a sempai to and expects to call her onee-sama, on top of her standard insanity. Best get practicing with them taser shocks.
That said, you may or may not have a higher resistance to the high gravity of Kamijou Touma's attractive nature to the opposite sex, though seeing as we have Lessar and the Birdway Sisters... yeah, that's one hell of a draw there.
On another note, odds of encountering Shokuhou Misaki who may or may not turn out an ally for Minami? If at the cost of Misaka's shocking reaction... and now I have that image in my head of Misaka zapping out from seeing Minami call Misaki onee-sama or some other appropriate honorific out in the open, whether or not it was timed right for Misaki to get a kick out of seeing Misaka react.
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- Location
- College Station, Texas
I've been wanting to write this story for a long time, and I can't believe someone finally did it. Hot damn.
- Location
- West Michigan
Forcing the bad girl to grow up by saddling her with pseudo-parental responsibility? Would that make Misaki a magical girl?
It occurs to me that Kuroko is a first year in middle school and Mikoto is a second year. If the SI is going to middle school she would wind up in the same year as Kuroko if not at the same school. This would mean that if she meets Kuroko she is going to be a girl Kuroko's own age who looks and acts like her crush. Of course it is also possible the SI is going to attend the final year of primary school. The wiki has Mikoto at 14 and Kuroko at 12-13 so this wouldn't be certain either way as it would depend on when peoples birthdays line up.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
Oh god, I can't even begin to imagine how Kuroko would act when seeing Minami. For the record I'd probably practice electric shocks regardless, but if Kuroko decides to like Minami in that particular way... yeahhh
Unironically, I would probably like Touma a whole lot and perhaps even crush on him - in part due to his EX-level Harem Protagonist skills, but also in part because he's just the kind of person I would like.
For the record, depending on how Misaki treats others in-universe (and I know OOC that while she's rather nice to her club members, she can treat people kind of badly), I might have a better or worse reaction to meeting her. I personally value people's free will to do what they want, so the idea of mind control is kind abhorrent to me - though if it's consensual, I really have no reason to mind it that much.
- Location
- College Station, Texas
Why? What do you see in him?
Also, as a side question, what would you say differentiates you and the original Misaka Mikoto in terms of personality?
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
I'm probably more playful/snarky/jokey than her to an extent? I'm definitely different, but at the same time saying I'm not similar to her would be a damn dirty lie.
As for Touma... well, basically, he's a good, clever, and heroic person, and he's probably going to try and save me to at least some extent at some point in the story, which would be the onset of the feelings most likely.
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Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
Think they did address the ethics of Mental Out and Misaki's usage of it. To her followers, her usage of it is consensual, in exchange she is very protective of each and every one of them, and it allows them to mass coordinate team actions much easier. To her acquaintances, she usually doesn't use it without permission unless she needs something covered and there's no time to act nice. To threats and enemies, you're free game for all her mental abilities, though she maintains a personal ethos to not leave a person's mental state damaged if she uses them, whether or not they're an ally or enemy, she did go out of her way to fix that one person's mind after Mitsuari Ayu tried to scramble their brains to keep Misaki from getting answers in NT Volume 11.
Which I guess makes her showings in Railgun somewhat a little darker than her Index ones as she used Mental Out on a library of bystanders to intimidate Misaka, and then taking the Railgun crew's memories to keep them out of the way without warning. Outside that, she's much more likeable when seen in New Testament and Astral Buddy.
And speaking of Astral Buddy, Hokaze Junko, also known as the Queen's right hand, and a Level 4 with the ability Rampage Dress, drawing out and maximizing the capability of the human body through bioelectricity, she'd have the capacity to reach Level 5 if the thing didn't leave her with migraines and overtaxing her body past what's safe for a human body. Not sure if Minami's Electromaster can allow her to recreate part of its effects, but it's as good a reason as any other to get acquainted with her, which may or may not bring you into meeting with Misaki.
So I did some checking into Rampage Dress and its similarities with Electromaster, Astral Buddy has a chapter where Misaka can indeed mimic its effects, though it requires very fine application of bioelectricity otherwise it carries the risk of major self injury. That said, it's enough a reason to try so you can give others a good right swing like Touma.
---
As for crushing on Touma, I guess you can count it a win if he likes having you around more than moaning of upcoming misfortune and electric shocks, though I foresee a future of him getting more electric shocks with Minami around, something Mikoto something tsun something dere... actually, any chance of us seeing Minami chew Index out for the way she acts most of the time around Touma's apartment if it ever comes to that? Not that I recall where the Sisters Arc sits in the flow of time, though I think Index sticking around is something unavoidable.
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Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
Yeah, I do remember that part about her at least (that she uses her mind control on her followers consensually), at least OOC. SI!me though is a little less researched though
I'd imagine only a Level 5 Electromaster would really be able to imitate such a power.
So first off, I may get frustrated with people but I'm not sure I'd act the same as Mikoto does towards Touma; I might, if he frustrates me just enough, but otherwise I probably wouldn't.
As for Index... IC-me doesn't know much about how Index acts, but if she sees Index doing the things which she does often around Touma (like biting for instance) she probably would chew her out to an extent.
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
It's a route she can take f she can do it without the specialization on bioelectricity that Hokaze has, perhaps around Level 4 she can try some light testing on that, though I imagine otherwise yes, you'd need to reach Level 5 to have that specific fine tuning like Misaka does. And Minami needs to know about Hokaze first, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't.
I meant more Mikoto trying to flash fry Touma when she sees Minami hanging around him, last I remember she doesn't like it when her Sisters try to get close with the Savior. Actually, I'm not sure she takes it fine with anyone trying to get close to Touma at all with the exception of Index, and that's not acceptance of her so much as grudging acceptance of her circumstances as a freeloader.
Huh, come to think of it, if Personal Reality is the concept of rejecting reality and enforcing yours in its place to gain Esper abilities, and Level 5's have the strongest Personal Realities of all, perhaps that's why Misaka's so trigger happy with the bug zapper, you'd have to be pretty damn shot in the head somewhere to think striking someone with all that electricity is a very good idea most of the time.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
Yeah, no way does she know about Hokaze now. Hell, she's forgotten some names of minor Railgun characters.
That's fair I suppose; Mikoto is a little... well, headstrong, to say the absolute least.
IIRC people in the Index-verse are stronger physically than people in our world, overall as a matter of course. Also, usually Mikoto only really goes anywhere near close to all out on Touma, mainly because he can actually take it.
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
It is noted that all Level 5s are at least a bit crazy. Railgun gets used for all of Academy Cities promotions because she's the least crazy of the 5s.
Well, she is the least crazy, but her personal insanities are also a lot more socially acceptable.
- Location
- PA
"But that will only really be a formality; I'm pretty confident from seeing her that she'll be the epitome of health for a girl with a 12-year old body."
I blinked, stopping in my tracks. "...Eh?"
most Gender bend fanfic have mc react like that
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
I mean... if her gender was changed, she would have reacted about that a lot earlier, wouldn't she?
Nickballas
Pride is an interesting aspect of human nature.
- Location
- Greece
So 12 year old body.
Greater mental development potential I wonder?
Greater mental development potential I wonder?
Chapter 4
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
Chapter 4
After a few seconds where my brain was still processing what had been said, my eye twitched. "...WHAT?!"
Yoshikawa looked over at me, blinking. "What is it, Minami?"
I looked at her, just standing there with my arms hanging by my side. "Why am I 12?!" I said, my voice laced with desperation. "I was under the impression that all subjects of Project Radio Noise were 14!"
"Oh, yeah," Yoshikawa muttered, turning to face me. She closed her eyes, rubbing her nose with a huff. "Well, it was decided that since you were a clone with the potential to become a Level 5, your age would be reduced in comparison to the Original and the other Sisters, so you'd have the time to go through a middle school Power Curriculum Program from the beginning, and grow into your abilities naturally. I was expecting you to already know that thanks to the use of Testament, but oh well." She shrugged, her face becoming resigned. "I suppose your biological age wasn't that important when it came down to the wire."
"B-but 12?"
"Well, going on 13," Yoshikawa clarified, crossing her arms. "From what I remember personally, the hormone cocktail was slightly adjusted after we were made aware that you would be able to become a Level 5, and the scientists who were supervising the research location where you were… well, you know," she coughed, "were ordered to take you out of the tank early. So your biological body is about… 12 years and 8 months old? Give or take a month, I think."
"Hey, that's enough dilly-dallying," the voice of Heaven Canceller rang out. "You came here for a treatment, didn't you? I'm not going to be waiting here all day for you to explain something to my patient when there are people to treat, including her."
I started, looking over at him.
He was standing next to a door, his expression not quite a scowl but not quite neutral either, as he stared at the both of us, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the door open. "Seriously, I don't have all day. Come in here and we'll get the procedure started - if you're ready, of course."
I looked over at Yoshikawa, who was standing with her sleeves in her lab coat pockets.
She arched an eyebrow. "Well? You heard him."
"Right," I said, nodding. This was what I was here for anyway, after all - for treatment.
So as I walked towards and into the room that Heaven Canceller was standing in front of, why was it that I was feeling nervous?
I waited as Yoshikawa filed in, Heaven Canceller after her as he closed the door.
As the door shut, I turned my attention to the room. It looked very different to the GP-type rooms from the ground floor - there were medical devices spread around it basically everywhere (I think one of them was called an EKG?), and the walls were mostly bare, aside from a few anatomical posters. There was also a bed situated in the middle of the room, and a door on the side, leading to presumably some sort of attachment. A TV screen was on the wall opposite me, and a side table lay next to the bed, some magazines, remotes, a tissue box, and a telephone on it, among other things..
"Now then," Heaven Canceller began, turning to face me from the door. "Go and take a seat on the bed, and I'll let you know about what will be happening today with regards to this procedure."
I nodded, pushing myself up onto it and sitting down. From my position, I could see Yoshikawa leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
"So," Heaven Canceller started, walking towards a trolley next to the bed. "As the information that I've been sent on your condition says, as a clone-" he grimaced- "you were grown using artificial hormones, as opposed to normal hormones." He pulled out two gloves while he was talking from a latex glove box, laying them out. "As such, I'm going to have to put you under in order to operate on your pituitary gland, so it can produce the proper hormones to allow for your continued survival and growth, alongside flushing out and equalizing the imbalanced hormones in your body."
It felt like ice had frozen my veins.
"My pituitary gland, huh? Isn't that in- no, near the brain?" I asked. The idea of having someone poking around inside of my literal physical brain wasn't pleasant - even if it was Heaven Canceller doing it.
"Mhm," he nodded. "There's no need to worry about it though. After all, it's not like the surgery is going to fail."
If someone else had talked to me about something like that, it probably would have been full of arrogance and pride. For Heaven Canceller, though, it didn't feel like that - instead, it felt like he was merely commenting on the state of the weather, or talking about how the sun rose and set in the sky. It was just a fact that he could do this without harming me.
And the thing is? I believed him.
"However," he added, holding up a finger. "That doesn't mean the aftereffects of this surgery will be nonexistent. Your hormone profile is so immensely out of whack, your growth will probably be stunted for a while even after the surgery, at least in comparison to the donor whose genes were used to create you."
I blinked.
"As of right now, you're about 1 meter and 35 centimeters tall, I would estimate," Heaven Canceller continued. "At my estimate, you're probably going to grow a little, then stay at 1 meter and 44 centimeters tall for a couple of years before your growth continues."
My lips parted slightly, and I gripped onto the bedsheets with my left hand. I was 135 centimeters tall? I knew I'd be getting a little smaller, but I'd been under the impression it would be somewhat taller than that. And getting stuck at 144 centimeters did not sound like something I wanted if I ever wanted to be taken seriously.
Heaven Canceller's face softened. "Ah, but no need to worry about that either. You'll be provided with some hormone supplements in order to help with your growth rate. So long as you take them, it should be fine, and your growth rate should be normal," he said.
I took a sharp breath. "How did you…" I trailed off, going silent.
"How did I know how you felt about that?" Heaven Canceller asked, arching an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "Who do you think I am? An inconsiderate fool of a doctor? I try to keep consideration for all of my patients in mind."
I stared at him, my jaw slack, and my hand loosening its grip on the sheets. I'd heard Heaven Canceller was something special... but this? This had just cemented it in my mind.
"Now, just let me know when you're ready, and we can start preparing you to go under."
I tensed, squeezing my knees together and holding onto the edge of my too short skirt with my fists.
Heaven Canceller noticed, and his expression turned into a frown. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Uh, well…" I looked down at my knees. My bangs fell over my eyes, the hair covering my vision in a kind of annoying manner. "I'm… I'm scared of going under," I whispered.
His face cleared up. "Ah, I see. That's entirely fair." He nodded. "You know the scientific theories about anesthetic potentially either just restricting the ability to make memories and the theories about continuity of consciousness then, I'd assume?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
"Well, let me just be clear, since I've examined this myself in patients I've had before and have come to this conclusion: when you wake up, you'll still be the same person who was put under anesthetic, just as you will be unconscious while you're under anesthetic." His words felt like they were. "So don't worry."
From anyone else, I would have dismissed that as simple hearsay, or even just bluffing in order to calm someone down. But hearing those words from Heaven Canceller, the greatest medical doctor in potentially all of existence… I felt relief. I would still be me - I wouldn't be losing any memories, I wouldn't be in pain, I would be me.
For the first time since I woke up in this world, I felt truly safe.
"I… I think I'm ready," I said. I looked back at Heaven Canceller. My face was set in a mask of grim determination, my lips a thin line.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Yoshikawa give a quick smile.
Heaven Canceller nodded, a look of determination on his face. "Alright. Now then, take these." He turned towards the trolley once again, pulling out the second drawer and rifling through it. Pulling out a hospital gown and a pair of white pants, he held it up to me. "Go and change in the bathroom." He pointed to the door on the other side of the room.
----
A few minutes later, I'd changed into the hospital clothes, leaving the Tokiwadai uniform in the bathroom (more like a changing room with a shower) and was now lying on the bed. Despite what Heaven Canceller had said earlier, I still felt a bit nervous, and my hands were holding onto the sheets tightly.
Yoshikawa had excused herself after I'd gotten changed. I couldn't blame her; I wouldn't necessarily want to see a surgery like this either.
Though, considering the tidbit of information that she was involved in the Level Six Shift, that may not have been the reason she had left the room.
It was still surreal to think that the woman who had been acting kind towards me all day was participating in such a horrific experiment - not only that, but she was a researcher associated with the experiment, even if she was unsure about it.
I glanced over at Heaven Canceller, who was standing to the side, a pair of gloves on his hands which were holding an anesthetic mask (or whatever they call those things) and a surgical mask on his face. "Just tell me when you're ready,"
I took a deep breath in, then breathed out slowly. Just the thought that it was Heaven Canceller who was going to do this procedure was incredibly relieving - I didn't know that much about him, but even I knew he was insanely skilled in his field. "I… I think I'm ready," I said, trying to inject as much firm determination into my voice as I could. It wasn't as successful as I'd hoped - even the best doctor in the world isn't going to assuage all your ingrained fears.
Still, it helped a little that the doctor who was doing the surgery on me was actually the best doctor in the world.
"Alright," Heaven Canceller said. His eyes turned upwards, in the way of a smile. "Just close your eyes and make sure to breathe in deeply."
I nodded, a spike of fear going through my head that I tried to ignore as the doctor approached me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in.
An instant later, I felt lethargic and weird - my thoughts felt foggy. There was also something that I couldn't quite describe, but I felt… more whole, in a way.
"Ah, she's awake," I heard Heaven Canceller say.
I opened my eyes, wincing at the lights above my head. 'Waking up?' I wasn't sure what he meant by that.
I tried sitting up, but I saw Heaven Canceller lean in, holding me down gently. "Don't move; you're going to need to stay here to recover for a couple of days," he said, a gentle note to his voice.
"Wha happened," I slurred, my voice not totally intelligible.
"You're a very brave girl," the doctor said, a smile on his face.
I could feel my ears start to burn.
"I managed to successfully complete the surgery some time ago, and you've only just woken up." He took his hands off my shoulders, putting them in his pockets. "It went rather well."
I squinted, the burning sensation leaving my face. What? "But you just put the mask on," I mumbled.
He chuckled. "Academy City's anesthesia sure is powerful, isn't it?" he asked, his voice in good humour.
"Yeah, it really is," I heard Yoshikawa's voice from the side.
My eyes flicked to where I could hear her voice from, and saw she was leaning on a wall, hands in her labcoat pockets.
"Still," she said, a smile on her face, "don't count yourself out. I can never get used to the miracles you're able to do with the simplest of tools."
Heaven Canceller gave off a hearty laugh. "You're not wrong," he said, good humour in his voice. Turning back to me, he smiled. "I'll send up some nurses to check up on you in a bit, but for now, Yoshikawa should be able to watch you well enough. I have another patient I need to deal with. Still, this bears repeating: you're a very brave girl." He put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.
"Hey, stop that," I tried, the words coming out less heated than I had intended, even though my face felt like it was on fire. It was too much effort to swipe at him though, so I just let him do it.
"Alright, then," he said, lifting his hand off of my head and smiling. He had a nice smile - if he was a bit younger, he'd probably be pretty cute. "Well, I'll have to cut this short then. It was nice meeting you." He turned away, walking off towards the door. Before he left, he turned around and waved at me, before opening the door and leaving, closing it behind him.
"He's nice," I blurted out.
Yoshikawa laughed, holding up a hand in front of her face. "He is," she said, nodding.
It was at this point my brain decided to remind me of something that the man had said a little bit ago.
You're going to need to stay here to recover for a couple of days.
My reaction was… not very good to say the least.
Oh, well, at least I had the TV.
----
AN:
A bit of insight into Minami's character in this chapter as she undergoes a surgery; Academy City's technology is amazing, isn't it?
After a few seconds where my brain was still processing what had been said, my eye twitched. "...WHAT?!"
Yoshikawa looked over at me, blinking. "What is it, Minami?"
I looked at her, just standing there with my arms hanging by my side. "Why am I 12?!" I said, my voice laced with desperation. "I was under the impression that all subjects of Project Radio Noise were 14!"
"Oh, yeah," Yoshikawa muttered, turning to face me. She closed her eyes, rubbing her nose with a huff. "Well, it was decided that since you were a clone with the potential to become a Level 5, your age would be reduced in comparison to the Original and the other Sisters, so you'd have the time to go through a middle school Power Curriculum Program from the beginning, and grow into your abilities naturally. I was expecting you to already know that thanks to the use of Testament, but oh well." She shrugged, her face becoming resigned. "I suppose your biological age wasn't that important when it came down to the wire."
"B-but 12?"
"Well, going on 13," Yoshikawa clarified, crossing her arms. "From what I remember personally, the hormone cocktail was slightly adjusted after we were made aware that you would be able to become a Level 5, and the scientists who were supervising the research location where you were… well, you know," she coughed, "were ordered to take you out of the tank early. So your biological body is about… 12 years and 8 months old? Give or take a month, I think."
"Hey, that's enough dilly-dallying," the voice of Heaven Canceller rang out. "You came here for a treatment, didn't you? I'm not going to be waiting here all day for you to explain something to my patient when there are people to treat, including her."
I started, looking over at him.
He was standing next to a door, his expression not quite a scowl but not quite neutral either, as he stared at the both of us, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the door open. "Seriously, I don't have all day. Come in here and we'll get the procedure started - if you're ready, of course."
I looked over at Yoshikawa, who was standing with her sleeves in her lab coat pockets.
She arched an eyebrow. "Well? You heard him."
"Right," I said, nodding. This was what I was here for anyway, after all - for treatment.
So as I walked towards and into the room that Heaven Canceller was standing in front of, why was it that I was feeling nervous?
I waited as Yoshikawa filed in, Heaven Canceller after her as he closed the door.
As the door shut, I turned my attention to the room. It looked very different to the GP-type rooms from the ground floor - there were medical devices spread around it basically everywhere (I think one of them was called an EKG?), and the walls were mostly bare, aside from a few anatomical posters. There was also a bed situated in the middle of the room, and a door on the side, leading to presumably some sort of attachment. A TV screen was on the wall opposite me, and a side table lay next to the bed, some magazines, remotes, a tissue box, and a telephone on it, among other things..
"Now then," Heaven Canceller began, turning to face me from the door. "Go and take a seat on the bed, and I'll let you know about what will be happening today with regards to this procedure."
I nodded, pushing myself up onto it and sitting down. From my position, I could see Yoshikawa leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
"So," Heaven Canceller started, walking towards a trolley next to the bed. "As the information that I've been sent on your condition says, as a clone-" he grimaced- "you were grown using artificial hormones, as opposed to normal hormones." He pulled out two gloves while he was talking from a latex glove box, laying them out. "As such, I'm going to have to put you under in order to operate on your pituitary gland, so it can produce the proper hormones to allow for your continued survival and growth, alongside flushing out and equalizing the imbalanced hormones in your body."
It felt like ice had frozen my veins.
"My pituitary gland, huh? Isn't that in- no, near the brain?" I asked. The idea of having someone poking around inside of my literal physical brain wasn't pleasant - even if it was Heaven Canceller doing it.
"Mhm," he nodded. "There's no need to worry about it though. After all, it's not like the surgery is going to fail."
If someone else had talked to me about something like that, it probably would have been full of arrogance and pride. For Heaven Canceller, though, it didn't feel like that - instead, it felt like he was merely commenting on the state of the weather, or talking about how the sun rose and set in the sky. It was just a fact that he could do this without harming me.
And the thing is? I believed him.
"However," he added, holding up a finger. "That doesn't mean the aftereffects of this surgery will be nonexistent. Your hormone profile is so immensely out of whack, your growth will probably be stunted for a while even after the surgery, at least in comparison to the donor whose genes were used to create you."
I blinked.
"As of right now, you're about 1 meter and 35 centimeters tall, I would estimate," Heaven Canceller continued. "At my estimate, you're probably going to grow a little, then stay at 1 meter and 44 centimeters tall for a couple of years before your growth continues."
My lips parted slightly, and I gripped onto the bedsheets with my left hand. I was 135 centimeters tall? I knew I'd be getting a little smaller, but I'd been under the impression it would be somewhat taller than that. And getting stuck at 144 centimeters did not sound like something I wanted if I ever wanted to be taken seriously.
Heaven Canceller's face softened. "Ah, but no need to worry about that either. You'll be provided with some hormone supplements in order to help with your growth rate. So long as you take them, it should be fine, and your growth rate should be normal," he said.
I took a sharp breath. "How did you…" I trailed off, going silent.
"How did I know how you felt about that?" Heaven Canceller asked, arching an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "Who do you think I am? An inconsiderate fool of a doctor? I try to keep consideration for all of my patients in mind."
I stared at him, my jaw slack, and my hand loosening its grip on the sheets. I'd heard Heaven Canceller was something special... but this? This had just cemented it in my mind.
"Now, just let me know when you're ready, and we can start preparing you to go under."
I tensed, squeezing my knees together and holding onto the edge of my too short skirt with my fists.
Heaven Canceller noticed, and his expression turned into a frown. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Uh, well…" I looked down at my knees. My bangs fell over my eyes, the hair covering my vision in a kind of annoying manner. "I'm… I'm scared of going under," I whispered.
His face cleared up. "Ah, I see. That's entirely fair." He nodded. "You know the scientific theories about anesthetic potentially either just restricting the ability to make memories and the theories about continuity of consciousness then, I'd assume?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
"Well, let me just be clear, since I've examined this myself in patients I've had before and have come to this conclusion: when you wake up, you'll still be the same person who was put under anesthetic, just as you will be unconscious while you're under anesthetic." His words felt like they were. "So don't worry."
From anyone else, I would have dismissed that as simple hearsay, or even just bluffing in order to calm someone down. But hearing those words from Heaven Canceller, the greatest medical doctor in potentially all of existence… I felt relief. I would still be me - I wouldn't be losing any memories, I wouldn't be in pain, I would be me.
For the first time since I woke up in this world, I felt truly safe.
"I… I think I'm ready," I said. I looked back at Heaven Canceller. My face was set in a mask of grim determination, my lips a thin line.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Yoshikawa give a quick smile.
Heaven Canceller nodded, a look of determination on his face. "Alright. Now then, take these." He turned towards the trolley once again, pulling out the second drawer and rifling through it. Pulling out a hospital gown and a pair of white pants, he held it up to me. "Go and change in the bathroom." He pointed to the door on the other side of the room.
----
A few minutes later, I'd changed into the hospital clothes, leaving the Tokiwadai uniform in the bathroom (more like a changing room with a shower) and was now lying on the bed. Despite what Heaven Canceller had said earlier, I still felt a bit nervous, and my hands were holding onto the sheets tightly.
Yoshikawa had excused herself after I'd gotten changed. I couldn't blame her; I wouldn't necessarily want to see a surgery like this either.
Though, considering the tidbit of information that she was involved in the Level Six Shift, that may not have been the reason she had left the room.
It was still surreal to think that the woman who had been acting kind towards me all day was participating in such a horrific experiment - not only that, but she was a researcher associated with the experiment, even if she was unsure about it.
I glanced over at Heaven Canceller, who was standing to the side, a pair of gloves on his hands which were holding an anesthetic mask (or whatever they call those things) and a surgical mask on his face. "Just tell me when you're ready,"
I took a deep breath in, then breathed out slowly. Just the thought that it was Heaven Canceller who was going to do this procedure was incredibly relieving - I didn't know that much about him, but even I knew he was insanely skilled in his field. "I… I think I'm ready," I said, trying to inject as much firm determination into my voice as I could. It wasn't as successful as I'd hoped - even the best doctor in the world isn't going to assuage all your ingrained fears.
Still, it helped a little that the doctor who was doing the surgery on me was actually the best doctor in the world.
"Alright," Heaven Canceller said. His eyes turned upwards, in the way of a smile. "Just close your eyes and make sure to breathe in deeply."
I nodded, a spike of fear going through my head that I tried to ignore as the doctor approached me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in.
An instant later, I felt lethargic and weird - my thoughts felt foggy. There was also something that I couldn't quite describe, but I felt… more whole, in a way.
"Ah, she's awake," I heard Heaven Canceller say.
I opened my eyes, wincing at the lights above my head. 'Waking up?' I wasn't sure what he meant by that.
I tried sitting up, but I saw Heaven Canceller lean in, holding me down gently. "Don't move; you're going to need to stay here to recover for a couple of days," he said, a gentle note to his voice.
"Wha happened," I slurred, my voice not totally intelligible.
"You're a very brave girl," the doctor said, a smile on his face.
I could feel my ears start to burn.
"I managed to successfully complete the surgery some time ago, and you've only just woken up." He took his hands off my shoulders, putting them in his pockets. "It went rather well."
I squinted, the burning sensation leaving my face. What? "But you just put the mask on," I mumbled.
He chuckled. "Academy City's anesthesia sure is powerful, isn't it?" he asked, his voice in good humour.
"Yeah, it really is," I heard Yoshikawa's voice from the side.
My eyes flicked to where I could hear her voice from, and saw she was leaning on a wall, hands in her labcoat pockets.
"Still," she said, a smile on her face, "don't count yourself out. I can never get used to the miracles you're able to do with the simplest of tools."
Heaven Canceller gave off a hearty laugh. "You're not wrong," he said, good humour in his voice. Turning back to me, he smiled. "I'll send up some nurses to check up on you in a bit, but for now, Yoshikawa should be able to watch you well enough. I have another patient I need to deal with. Still, this bears repeating: you're a very brave girl." He put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.
"Hey, stop that," I tried, the words coming out less heated than I had intended, even though my face felt like it was on fire. It was too much effort to swipe at him though, so I just let him do it.
"Alright, then," he said, lifting his hand off of my head and smiling. He had a nice smile - if he was a bit younger, he'd probably be pretty cute. "Well, I'll have to cut this short then. It was nice meeting you." He turned away, walking off towards the door. Before he left, he turned around and waved at me, before opening the door and leaving, closing it behind him.
"He's nice," I blurted out.
Yoshikawa laughed, holding up a hand in front of her face. "He is," she said, nodding.
It was at this point my brain decided to remind me of something that the man had said a little bit ago.
You're going to need to stay here to recover for a couple of days.
My reaction was… not very good to say the least.
Oh, well, at least I had the TV.
----
AN:
A bit of insight into Minami's character in this chapter as she undergoes a surgery; Academy City's technology is amazing, isn't it?
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- Location
- Some corner of the Milky Way
I'm going to assume that you meant to say he cursed or something similar, though personally as a potty mouth IRL, I really wouldn't consider the word "fool" as a swear word.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
That was me being a brainfart and forgetting to finish a sentence, sorry