7 June 2179
A manilla folder landed on Tokusei Shikaku's desk, directly in front of him. Picking it up, the navy-haired man opened it, reading the contents.
"Kirai Kobamu, date of birth, August 11th 2156, known vigilante, codename 4Gotten." Tokusei spoke aloud. "Quirk, none. Why do you want my help with a quirkless perp?"
Tsukauchi sat on the edge of Tokusei's desk, leaning in.
"Because he has a quirk, I need you to determine if this was a quirk that was hidden from the register, or if he is one of All For One's favoured."
Tokusei nodded. "Sure, where's he's being held?"
"In an interrogation room downstairs, he was one of the escaped USJ villains, turned himself in, didn't attack the heroes." Tsukauchi explained as they both stood. "Sansa just brought him from Mustafu General, he was attacked by other inmates, the quirk was noticed when he tried to defend himself."
"What is his quirk?" Tokusei asked as they stepped into the lift.
"Barrier, it seems, not a particularly powerful variant of it." Tsukauchi answered. "It's what makes me think AFO has something to do with it, the quirk has all the hallmarks of a first-generation quirk, plus he insists that he doesn't know anything about the quirk."
"Something about the name is familiar, Kirai Kobamu." Tokusei mused.
Tsukauchi nodded. "A scandal a few years back, he applied to UA, hero and general streams, but was rejected from both despite passing both exams."
"Less me guess, because he was quirkless?"
"Right in one." Tsukauchi replied as the lift came to a halt, doors opening. "The HPSC forced UA to reject him on the grounds of frail health, but someone in the faculty whistle blew a couple of years later, all over the papers."
"I remember that, it led to all hero academies being required by law to accept successful quirkless candidates." Tokusei noted. "So why did Kobamu end up a villain?"
"Vigilante, became one after being rejected due to HPSC's interference, primarily focused on gathering intel on villains and passing it along to us, or the heroes." Tsukauchi informed. "We knew about him for years, he was a low-priority capture due to his non-violent nature."
"Why was a vigilante part of the League of Villains?"
"He's not, the LOV recruited anyone and everyone for the USJ attack, he signed up, and on the day, he went through the portal, found a nice spot, and just sat there." Tsukauchi answered. "In his interrogation afterwards he explained he joined the attack because he wanted to see UA as if he'd been a student."
Tokusei turned to avoid bumping into another detective. "What's he been charged with?"
"Not vigilantism, or villainy, since he didn't use a quirk to commit the crimes. Trespass, colluding with a villain, obstructing the course of justice, amongst others." Tsukauchi listed. "And now this quirk has appeared, suddenly the prosecution wants to offer him a plea deal they didn't before."
"Right, now they know he's not quirkless he's worth their time , quirkist bastards." Tokusei grumbled. "Let me guess, the HPSC Vigilante Rehabilitation Program."
"Not the HPSCVRP, the Commission blocked the UAVRP's requisition request before the quirk was revealed, now they're allowing it." Tsukauchi qualified. "We're here."
Tokusei followed his colleague into the room, finding a dark-haired man handcuffed to the table, his face was dotted with cuts and bruises, far too well healed to be anything other than a result of a medical quirk.
"Hello, Detective Tsukauchi." Kobamu greeted. "I'd shake your hand, but well, as you can see."
Tsukauchi pressed a button on his datapad, the handcuffs falling open. Kobamu rubbed his wrists, looking up to see a hand offered to him.
Shaking the detective's hand, Kobamu turned to Tokusei.
"Are you the quirk reader?" Kobamu queried. "Because I'd really like to get to the bottom of this."
Tokusei nodded and held out his hand. "I am. Detective Tokusei Shikaku."
"Kirai Kobamu, but you're probably already aware of that." The man finished awkwardly.
"Yes, I am." Tokusei replied, taking the seat opposite Kobamu. "When did you first notice your quirk, and please, tell the truth."
Kobamu's eyes flicked to Tsukauchi. "I couldn't lie if I wanted to."
Tokusei glanced at his colleague, he wondered if Tsukauchi had been 4Gotten's police contact.
"Excellent, please continue."
Kobamu nodded. "At the prison, three days ago, I was attacked, I guess they didn't like having a quirkless around. They were hitting and hitting me, I just wanted it to stop, and then it did, I opened my eyes and there was this forcefield dome, protecting me."
Tokusei nodded.
"You have to believe me, I have desperately wanted a quirk my entire life, if I'd had one all this time, well, I wouldn't have watched my dreams die because of bigotry."
"I believe you." Tokusei assured.
Tsukauchi nodded. "He's telling the truth."
"I know he is." Tokusei answered. "Kobamu, prior to the incident have you been experiencing any unusual sensations, tingling, vibrations, in your body."
Kobamu nodded. "I have, ever since the USJ incident, my whole body, but now it's gone. What was that?"
"A side-effect of quirk manifestation." Tokusei explained. "Symptoms such as that can appear anywhere from minutes to months before the quirk manifests, although these days it tends to be days at most."
"Please, help me understand." Kobamu pleaded, holding out his hand.
Tokusei took it, and activated Quirkspace.
A white void appeared around Tokusei, now standing, before Kobamu materialised alongside him.
"Normally I don't take people with me, but since you don't know anything about your quirk, you deserve to know." Tokusei explained as he stepped forwards.
"Thank you, Detective."
Tokusei examined the quirk in the center of the void, pale red and a dodecahedron in shape.
"Barrier, manifested in Kirai Kobamu, aged 22, on June 7th 2179. Type, Emitter. Allows the holder to create a protective barrier around themselves."
"Woah, it's amazing." Kobamu marveled. "Nothing like my parents, their quirks are Igloo and Lightning Breath."
"There's hints, the dome shape from Igloo, energy basis from Lightning Breath, but it's still very different." Tokusei mused, before looking up. "No junk data, just like a quirkless person."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you didn't get this quirk naturally." Tokusei answered. "I need to go back."
Reversing a full year, Tokusei found an empty void, just darkness around him and Kobamu.
"This is exactly what I see when I use my quirk on someone who's quirkless." Tokusei mused. "It's impossible, the only way is if-"
"I was given a child's unmanifested quirk." Kobamu finished. "But the Merchant of Quirks is just a myth, right?"
"I'm not at liberty to answer that." Tokusei replied, before slowly winding time forward, towards the present, not letting his eyes off where the quirk would manifest.
It appeared, still just a quirkspark, unmanifested. Finding the exact moment, Tokusei read the time on the display.
"April 14th 2179. 15:08:09." Tokusei spoke in disbelief. "That's impossible, that was during the USJ attack, that was-"
Tokusei cut himself off, before releasing Quirkspace, returning to the real world.
Standing, Tokusei moved to the door. "I need to speak with you privately, Tsukauchi."
Ignoring Kobamu's protests for an explanation, Tokusei led his colleague to an unoccupied room, free of anyone or anything that could listen in.
"It's a natural quirk, I don't know how, but it is." Tokusei spoke as he drew his datapad, searching through the archives. "I thought it might be that AFO gave him a child's unmanifested quirk, but when AFO gives or takes quirks, they appear through this tear he makes in the void."
Tsukauchi nodded along, following the explanation. "There was no tear then?"
"No, Kobamu was one hundred percent quirkless, and then he suddenly had an unmanifested quirk." Tokusei continued. "But the time it appeared it was during the USJ attack, at this exact moment."
Tokusei held out his datapad, showing a snippet of surveillance footage that had survived.
Taking the datapad, Tsukauchi examined the scene, he could see All Might, Midoriya and his fellow students surrounding Shigaraki, Kurogiri and the Nomu that they had in custody. Tsukauchi could see Kobamu, standing on a fake mountain, looking down at the stalemate below him.
Tsukauchi pressed play.
Midoriya started to glow, multi-colored light enshrouding his body.
"This was when Midoriya transferred some of One For All's power to Toshinori." Tsukauchi mused.
"Keep watching." Tokusei urged.
Tsukauchi kept his eyes on the recording as All Might was covered in the same glow as Midoriya.
The light surrounding both of them began to fade, before a pulse shot out, forming a dome of light moving in every direction, passing harmlessly over everyone around Midoriya.
In the recording, Kobamu was struck by the energy, falling backwards, unconscious, the only one to be affected by the energy.
"It's One For All." Tsukauchi breathed. "One For All gave Kobamu a quirk."
Tokusei nodded. "We need to tell All Might about this."
"Nedzu too." Tsukauchi qualified. "If anyone can make sense of this, he can."
9 June 2179
"I had my suspicions, but this confirms them." Nedzu spoke calmly, sat in his chair at the conference table.
Joining him were All Might, Sir Nighteye, Recovery Girl, Tsukauchi and Shikaku.
"I have been noticing a pattern at certain events, all of them involving situations where the One For All user is forced to use a large portion of their stockpiled energy to defeat a foe." Nedzu continued. "The USJ attack, All Might's battle with AFO on Dagoba, Nana's final stand."
Nedzu pressed a button, changing the screen to show three separate maps, showing the locations of each of three locations he just mentioned.
"After each event, a small number of quirkless individuals, those closest to the epicenter, gained quirks." Nedzu explained, red dots on each map showing the epicenter and orange dots for those who had gained quirks.
"How is this possible?" Nighteye questioned. "One For All is a stockpile of energy that can be passed on, it doesn't grant others quirks."
"I have a theory." Nedzu stated calmly. "As you all know, the first known quirked individual was the Luminescent Baby, in China. This was followed by sudden quirk manifestations in the hospital, not newborns, but from every age, young and old."
"It's a popular theory that the Luminescent Baby triggered global quirk manifestation." Recovery Girl noted.
"It is, but I propose something else." Nedzu countered. "Twenty-three years after the first quirk, random quirk manifestations ceased entirely, thus the only way to have a quirk after that was to be born with one."
All Might leaned back in his chair. "You're suggesting the Luminescent Baby was the first One For All user."
"That I am." Nedzu nodded. "I believe that All For One gave his brother the stockpiling quirk so he would no longer create quirks in all those he came into contact with."
"So One For All stockpiles pure quirk energy." All Might mused, looking down at his withered hand.
"I doubt he did it out of the goodness of his heart." Gran Torino commented. "Then again, free quirks for all would somewhat undermine his business model."
Nedzu cleared his throat. "Earlier today scanners picked up two more energy waves, the same as the ones seen at the other events."
The screen changed again, showing a map of Yokohama.
"I haven't been near Yokohama, Izuku is still in a coma and Young Iida hasn't left campus in over a week." All Might explained.
"Then that implies that there is another user of One For All out there." Nighteye noted.
"In a manner of speaking, we believe that All For One is attempting to replicate One For All via Izuku's DNA, from the no doubt numerous samples he took whilst the boy was his captive." Nedzu continued. "We have managed to pinpoint the location thanks to Detective Shikaku, he found the exact time at which the three individuals known to have manifested a quirk did so."
"You used the exact time and assumed the quirk-gifted energy wave moves at a constant speed, hence, the epicenter." Nighteye noted.
"That we did." Nedzu changed the screen again, showing a manor home. "The residence of one Utsuro Botai, the, great-granddaughter of All For One and she has abducted one of my students, Young Mineta, from 1-A, her own child."
"So are we going to raid the facility?" Nighteye queried. "To shut down All For One's operations?"
All Might nodded. "We are, and to rescue Young Mineta, but there are some complications."
"Izuku Midoriya was taken off life support earlier today, his brain is fully healed, he should have woken up by now, but he hasn't." Recovery Girl explained.
"You believe whatever All For One is doing is keeping him from awakening?" Gran Torino croaked.
Nedzu nodded. "This is a map of Mustafu, an identical energy wave as the one from Yokohama was generated by Midoriya at the exact same moment."
"So, they're synchronised somehow?" Nighteye pondered. "Cloning?"
"We believe that is the case." Nedzu answered. "Four individuals so far have reported quirk manifestations, none of whom are UA students."
"The primary objectives of the mission are to destroy whatever device All For One is using to keep Izuku unconscious and to rescue Young Mineta." All Might informed. "We will be using a team consisting mostly of UA faculty and a few trustworthy heroes. Utsuro Botai is a high ranking official in the HPSC, who cannot know of the raid ahead of time, she will surely find out if they do."
"Looks like we've got some hard work ahead of us then." Gran Torino groused.
The elderly hero could feel it in his bones, the winds had changed, events were spiralling closer and closer to their resolution.
Whether said resolution was to be good or disastrous remained to be seen.