Once there was a man, who was weaker than all of his friends. This man had many flaws, but he was kinder than most. In fact, out of all the people in the world, he had one of the kindest hearts. There was something that many people forgot, however, in this man's kindness and brash temper, in his character flaws and in being weaker than the people he normally surrounded himself with, even in the fact that this man was a doctor.

Leorio Paladiknight was stronger than people gave him credit for, and he would help others and stand by his friends until the very end.

Perhaps that is why when he died, protecting the hurt bodies of his friends one last time, there was not simply an end. There was no afterlife, no limbo, or purgatory. It would even be wrong to call this reincarnation, as that was not quite it.

There was not a jarring awareness at birth, nor even one in the first few years. Awareness did not come all at once to Leorio Paladiknight, but slowly in dreams and half remembered thoughts. It came in the darkness of the night. In the recognition of a city. In the cold asphalt, and the hunger that nawed and never quite left. In the moments when all those around him fell ill.

The remembrance of Leorio Paladiknight was completed in much the same way he had found his goal of becoming a doctor in his first life. The closest thing he had to a friend fell sick, but this time he could do something.

It was not easy, a nameless street orphan (But now he had Leorio. A name of his own) had no way to get some of the required medicines and tools through legitimate means, especially not as a kid not even eight. So he stole them, it was not the first time he had done so. In his first life he'd desperately stolen food, medical textbooks, and any type of medicine he thought might help before he'd figured out how to heal his friend.

People often forget that being kind does not mean being law abiding or morally just. Being kind is about a willingness to help others, whether at a personal cost or regardless of the consequences.

Luckily, this time the ailment could be healed purely with medicine, Leorio had not yet acquired the dexterity needed to perform surgery not did he quite have his nen abilities with him.

That was another odd thing, this world did not seem to have nen, but there was something there. He did have some minor powers, so far as the now young doctor(and regaining those credentials was going to be a pain) could tell. It did seem to be a very precision focused ability similar enough to his nen that with time it would probably be able to do similar things.

But now, he had to go to medical school.

Which would be a lot easier if Leorio had been enrolled in school.

After a moment of thought, the kid who was just now getting used to not being a man realized that this might be a blessing. While not particularly gifted at most academics, he was a genius in the medical field. However, with all of the training Cheadle had put him through, Leorio was sure to pass the alternate high school test with flying colors. And if he could do that, then it was likely that he could get a lot of financial aid and waivers for being a 'genius'. And so long as he could keep up that facade until medical school, it was likely no one would notice that his 'genius' was faked and really the result of having been an adult.

After all, a ten year old genius flying through college would be forgiven of more academic mistakes than an adult genius would, because it's impressive they made it that far.

So, from the slums of City S a doctor came to abide. Deemed a genius by many, the youngest Medical Doctor ever at the age of sixteen, it came as a surprise to many that this seemingly up and coming medical professional would turn down all offers at big fancy hospitals to open a cheap or sometimes even free clinic in the slums of a city. Soon, the young doctor became forgotten as just another bleeding heart doc.

All of Leorio's old friends would have laughed themselves silly at the idea.

And Leorio would not really make a friend in this world until after monsters roamed the world and the only kind of doctor who could truly help those in need was the kind that also knew how to fight. How lucky he came from a place where learning how to fight, and fight effectively, was just a part of the Hunter job description.