Nezu hummed as he sipped his tea, he had gotten an odd request for a meeting about Deku-Sensei from Tsukauchi.
Things were moving along quite well now that they had official resources to pull more information from, however Deku-Sensei seemed to have planned for this and even with an increased number of heroes searching for his paper trails still haven't turned up anything.
Something that had made him reconsider Aizawa's previously proposed NDA quirk idea since the lack of documentation was becoming even more worrisome and perhaps could be explained by the "contract" could disappear but still have real world consequences.
The only problem was that he hadn't found anyone with a matching quirk in the database, there was the possibility that Deku-Sensei did have a NDA quirk but wasn't registered, but that would only work if Deku had lied about his quirk, which was entirely possible or Deku had been smuggled into the country so he didn't completely dismiss it as option yet.
He had a touch more luck in searching for Aizawa's Yaizu vigilante, in fact he found a boy with a quirk that had almost matched up to what Aizawa described going on every time but unfortunately there were a few problems.
Namely the boy Shinsou Hitoshi had very distinct purple hair which was a far cry from the dark green/black Aizawa claimed the vigilante had.
And sure maybe he could chalk that up to the hair dye available at multiple store fronts but with the Shinsou family residence being so far there would be no time for the boy to dye his hair, get to Yaizu and do whatever patrol the vigilante had then get the dye out and to school without being late.
Which was a touch disappointing if he was being honest, he would have loved to help aid Aizawa take young Shinsou under his wing, Brainwashing, while grossly mislabeled would be a fantastic addition to the school and Nezu would love to get a chance to play around with the boy's quirk.
So many missed possibilities... hopefully Shinsou would apply to U.A. when the time came for the boy to enroll in high school, the child had so much potential.
He heard the soft steps of someone that wasn't a member of his staff walking alongside one of the Himawaris and came out of his musing and opened one of his cameras to check the halls, he quickly spotted both Himawari-San and Tsukauchi walking towards his office.
Nezu hummed and proceeded to hop down from his chair and he wondered if Tsukauchi preferred tea or coffee, after a moment Nezu decided to go ahead and make both since he would drink the tea and he could just pass off the coffee to Aizawa if Tsukauchi didn't want either of them.
Then he went back to his desk and started gathering up all the files he had on Deku-Sensei and placed them down on the table so they would be ready to go over once Tsukauchi got to his office.
And he patiently waited for his guest to arrive wondering just what the detective could want to speak with him since there weren't any big developments since Isamu-San revealed that the Vespas were protecting Deku-Sensei's identity.
Something that he believed explained part of why it had been so difficult to gather viable information on Deku, after all the Vespas had a very tight grip on what information floated around the underground and had ways of keeping said information from becoming publicly available if it was in their best interest.
And that made him ponder just what Deku had that was so valuable that the family as a whole would go out of their way to protect him? It would be one thing if they were reluctant to give away the info without a guaranteed long-term pay off but from what Isamu-San explained to him, the Vespa he met up with didn't just deny him but looked rather crossed when he offered to pay even more money.
It was likely that Deku-Sensei had at some point crossed the line from client to resource, one that must bring them a good deal of wealth for Deku-Sensei's info to be so closely guarded.
And just the base knowledge told him exactly what Deku-Sensei might be giving them in return for this protection, new groups of criminals were popping up and managed to work in tandem to get away from even the top twenty heroes before completely dropping off the map never to be seen again.
An evolution of behavior certainly but Nezu could find some circumstantial proof of the members of the criminals individually being connected to Deku-Sensei and more than one who had rebranded themselves, especially the ones that would disappear after a major heist went right.
Deku-Sensei was giving some kind of plans and training for these criminals to become a higher tier of villains who could get away and escape from most heroes, that alone would bring in a lot of money for the Vespas and that wasn't touching his connections to all of the powerful groups like the Russian mafia which could give them even more clientele.
It was no wonder that the Vespa family was as protective of Deku-Sensei if that was the case, just those two things would bring in millions of yen if the Vespas marketed it the right way, and there was likely much more that Deku-Sensei offered that they didn't know about.
He'd have to consider what those things might be later though as he heard his guests approach getting close and he should be a good host and greet them "Hello Detective, please come right in Tsukauchi-San." he implored knowing his voice would carry through the room.
Himawari-San opened the door letting Tsukauchi into his office before leaving them to their meeting. Detective Tsukauchi was an interesting case of a human, not a part of the ten percent like Aizawa but close enough to have a unique protective nature uncommon in this generation of humans.
"Nezu-San, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice." Tsukauchi said bowing to him before sitting in the seat Nezu motioned him to take.
"It is no problem Tsukauchi-San, given the subject I presumed it was an important matter and I would hate to delay whatever you needed to discuss with me in person. Would you like anything to drink?" Nezu offered as he topped up his cup of tea.
"Tea will be fine, but may I ask is this room... secure? To have this conversation?" Tuskauchi questioned, his eyes glanced around the room slightly nervous.
Nezu hummed tilting his head, he stood up and went over a small corner of the room where he opened a small panel in the wall with a claw then pulled a key from his pocket and turned it in the now available keyhole, Nezu's ears heard the familiar whirls and clicks of his office becoming a dead zone.
"It is now, I suppose whatever you wish to discuss is more sensitive then I previously believed. Has there been a new development in the investigation?" Nezu inquired as he retook his seat.
Tsukauchi sighed "Not quite, merely a... theory that is highly concerning. And given your quirk I was hoping you could tell me just how real it could possibly be." he explained and Nezu nodded, it wasn't an uncommon request.
Knowing how valuable his quirk would be to places such as the stock exchange was why he purposely never corrected what anyone thought his quirk was.
"Right, what is this theory?" Nezu asked pouring a second cup of tea for the man in front of him.
Tsukauchi hesitated then said: "Do you know of a man called All For One?"
Nezu frowned, his tail flicking as he searched his mind for anything related to that name but couldn't think of anything relevant to warrant such worry "I'm afraid not, would you please enlighten me?" Nezu requested.
Tsukauchi was disappointed but nodded "All For One was a man born around the dawn of quirks, his name has been lost to time but his quirk: All For One allowed him to take and give quirks, I'm sure you've heard the stories of He who takes correct?" Tsukauchi explained for him and Nezu's brain immediately connected the two names, there was a mass fire of reconsideration in his head.
He'd known something was manipulating Japan for decades now but to think it was a single man from the dawn of quirks that let him collect any quirk he saw fit...
"And this man got his hands on an immortality quirk of some kind, perhaps two since Asia is the only documented continent to only have a single immortality quirk, and you fear this man might be Deku-Sensei?" Nezu questioned, and this would be a very valid fear.
"No, no. All Might almost certainty killed All For One a few years back in 2368, All Might essentially crushed All For One's head and even if he does have over a hundred healing quirks they wouldn't prevent him from dying from the brain trauma." Tsukauchi corrected.
Nezu's tail flicked again and he'd doubt that comment but with Tsukauchi's quirk it would be almost impossible to fool him about something like this, so Nezu would place that aside for now since Tsukauchi was technically right that healing/immortality quirks have yet to reach a point where severe brain trauma wouldn't turn someone into a vegetable if did survive.
"Then might I ask what exactly is this theory about All For One and Deku-Sensei?" Nezu pressed having one or two reasons to believe Tsukauchi might be bringing this up.
"Sir Nighteye believes that because of Deku-Senesi's ability to improve quirks and his unquestioned connections to every group that Deku-Sensei might be a child or grandchild of All For One, one with a similar quirk." Tsukauchi clarified for him.
Nezu's mind preceded the idea and cross referenced everything he'd documented of Deku-Sensei and his behavior.
Being a successor to an ancient throne would explain one or two inconsistencies with his abilities, such as his ability to go anywhere and safety interact with thousands without any troubles, and having a quirk that let them take/give quirks would probably give Deku-Sensei an advantage in training others with their quirks.
And depending on how many quirks this son of All For One had received from his father then people could rightfully be afraid of Deku-Sensei, which would also explain why the groups he was allied with were so protective of him.
But that was only speculation and Nezu couldn't solidly say there was any proof of the theory being correct, he could argue that the quirks weren't changed just better trained but then again depending on the mother's quirk it could lead to the ability to rapidly improve said quirks.
And Deku-Sensei could easily make his own connections as any other criminal does but it would also explain his lack of backlash from rival groups and why no one had tried to keep him out of their territory since they might be afraid of the backlash.
Plus Isamu-San had said that he might have a silent partner that was helping from behind the scenes and the deceased All For One and his leftover organization there to guide his child would fit the bill quite well.
However that was all just speculation and only lined up with what little they knew because they were still very much in the dark about Deku-Sensei's whole operation.
Without more information Nezu couldn't say in good consciousness that Deku-Sensei was or wasn't connected to All For One.
Nezu's ears lowered and his tail waving behind him "Unfortunately I can't give you an answer Tsukauchi, there isn't enough information for my quirk to come to a solid conclusion on the matter. There is too much we don't know about Deku-Sensei and I have no in depth knowledge of how All For One ran his business to compare to what we do know of Deku-Sensei." Nezu replied resting his paws on top of each other on his desk.
Tsukauchi was clearly disappointed with this answer but resigned to it "I thought that might be the case, I'd give you everything I knew of All For One but I'm afraid all I know is second-hand. Sir Nighteye, All Might, and Gran Torino know far more about him than I ever would but I'm not sure if they would talk with you... I didn't exactly ask for their permission to bring you in on this Nezu-San." Tsukauchi told him.
Nezu hummed, one of his ears flicking "I see, might I ask how those three know of All For One so personally?" Nezu inquired head tilted, it was an odd collection of heroes to know of this man.
His info on Gran Torino was limited to a past member of staff and while he could argue that Sir Nighteye either "saw" All For One in a vision or from his previous work under All Might why did All Might know of All For One? Did one of All For One's plans involve All Might and not go to the way he wished it?
Tsukauchi ducked his head "I'm afraid that really isn't my place to tell Nezu-San, the only reason I was read in by them was because of my quirk. However, I can say this fight with All For One has been going on since long before any of our time." Tsukauchi confessed and Nezu could see how uncomfortable he was revealing even this much.
Something that wasn't a shock given how protective the man was over people he barely knew, it would only make sense he'd be even more protective over those he is closer to.
"Of course, who do you think would be the most forthcoming about this... situation?" Nezu asked since he didn't want to pressure or force Tsukauchi into doing something that clearly made him uncomfortable.
Even if it wasn't a personal moral issue for him he also wouldn't dare risk jeopardizing the possible relationship, Tsukauchi would be a valuable asset in so many ways and he'd need to take careful steps not to leave a negative impression on the man.
"I'd suggest Gran Torino, he's known of All For One the longest and if you could, please do not contact All Might about Sir Nighteye's All For One theory, he... would not react well and I wouldn't want him to worry himself into an early grave over this if it isn't true." Tsukauchi said and Nezu nodded.
"As you wish Tsukauchi-San, thank you for bringing this to my attention." Nezu replied and glanced at the time "School hours will be starting soon, and I assume you have work to do." Nezu guessed.
Tsukauchi nodded standing up "Yes, thank you for listening to me Nezu-San. If you find a connection between the two please let me or Sir Nighteye know as soon as possible." the man said with a bow.
"Naturally Tsukauchi-San." Nezu told him with a bow of his head, then waved as the man left.
Nezu waited until Tsukauchi was gone to jump down and opened another drawer and searched through the files inside for the old faculty records, perhaps he could find Gran Torino's contact details, because even if they were out of date he could use them in his search for more info since Gran Torino was employed during a period long before his time.