Tomura insisted they have pizza for dinner and since he had the credit card, Izuku was forced to go along with it. He'd have preferred katsudon but the teen would not order that. Dinner didn't fit into Kurogiri's more nutritious category but Izuku figured that was Tomura's problem.
After they'd eaten, and cleaned up as best they could - the dust was just not shifting from some of the corners in the kitchen, and under the benches was a disaster Izuku didn't want to think about - Tomura dragged him down to the closed bar. He set up his console and then shoved the keyboard at Izuku.
"You do the searches," the teen commanded.
Izuku frowned. "What are we searching for?" he asked, confused.
"Regeneration quirks," the older boy told him as if he was stupid.
"I don't think they will be on the 'net," Izuku objected.
"We can at least confirm if they exist," Tomura was defensive.
Izuku nodded. That was true. He began typing. 'Rejenarashone quirk.'
"Is that how you spell it?" Tomura asked.
The freckled boy didn't know but he hit search anyway. A whole heap of results came up but none of them looked to be what he wanted. They definitely weren't in Japanese. Izuku tapped translate.
"Turkish?" Tomura growled.
"Would you recognise the word?" Izuku asked. He was acutely aware that he was the one who went to school.
The teen didn't answer. Izuku typed more attempts into the search and eventually it suggested something that looked right. He hit search.
A Kiwi page came up as the first result. It had a picture of a starfish on it. It looked like a spider with fat legs.
"We don't want that," Tomura dismissed it.
"Maybe," Izuku agreed. "But it beats the next result," he pointed out.
That was a news article with a headline 'Regeneration Quirks - Fact or Fiction.'
"Tch," the teen replied. It was practically an instruction to look at the Kiwi site.
Izuku clicked. The Kiwi site was for biology and the picture of the starfish showed it regrowing legs. There was, however, a supplementary link at the top for 'Regeneration (Quirk)' and Izuku beamed as he clicked it.
That took them to another Kiwi page. He read quickly over the introduction which had him feeling relief. Regeneration quirks did exist! He knew they did on some level since Setsuna's quirk allowed her to regenerate parts of her body but he hadn't been sure how rare they were, or how encompassing they could be.
"Less rare than healing quirks," Tomura said, obviously reading more quickly than Izuku could. "But only by a small amount."
"How powerful are they?" Izuku asked, scrolling down. There was usually some sort of scale cobbled together on these pages.
The major delineations of quirks were mutant, emitter and transformer but under those definitions there was lots of variety. Healing quirks were usually emitter type but regeneration quirks were classified as mutant type. Izuku didn't care what type they were, so long as he could borrow it to give to his dad.
He found the image of the scales. Against the usual measure of strength, regeneration scored poorly, but there was a note that since regeneration should repair torn muscle fibres, it would be possible to use it to train to become as strong as humanly possible. By all the usual measures regeneration was a very selfish quirk type in that it only affected the user. Izuku could see lots of uses for it and he wondered why no one who had a regeneration style quirk was a hero. How useful would it be to know that you wouldn't get hurt badly?
Izuku shook his head. He wasn't going to think about heroes. He had to find out how to get a regeneration quirk. Setsuna's wouldn't do his dad any good, at least not while he was unconscious. It had to be another one. He needed more information…
Information… Izuku jerked up.
"What is it?" Tomura demanded when the younger boy stopped scrolling the page.
"We need information," Izuku told him. "Dad…" he thought about the words. "Dad had a broker," Izuku recalled from last year when he was suspended.
"Kurogiri talks to him all the time. Giran," Tomura shrugged.
"No, this was someone else. Nasutto," Izuku told the teen. "He is dad's information broker. He can help us find someone with a regeneration quirk." He smiled and for the first time since Kurogiri had taken them to see his dad, Izuku felt like there was something he could really do. He'd need help with it but he knew you didn't have to do everything yourself.
"Can you contact him?" Tomura asked.
Izuku nodded. He had Nasutto's phone number and he jumped up to get his phone. There was no time to lose!
-ted-
Sir Nighteye rested his elbows on the table, braiding his fingers together in front of his nose as he leaned forward. The Hero Public Safety Commission was meeting and while Heroes were not usually a part of the meeting, the events were of such significance that as All Might's only sidekick, he had been invited to attend. There were several other people who would not usually attend as well, mostly government officials who were waiting to be told what the hell had gone on.
"So far, we've pulled out over three hundred dead. There's still 800 missing and unaccounted for, however several of the search Heroes indicate they can account for approximately 500 of those. Thankfully, the vast majority have been safe thanks to most of the buildings adhering to code."
Mirai nodded, as did most of the table. The building code was one of the things that people both hated and loved. Hated because it cost more to build to it but loved because in situations like this it saved lives. Buildings didn't just collapse these days, and if they did, there were safer places to be in them where they were designed to create air pockets. You might have to wait for rescue but you would be, theoretically, unharmed.
"Of the dead, we are still working to identify 14-" As he listened Sir Nighteye slid one of the briefing reports to him and read through it. He was here to provide information on the villain, All For One, but also to help come up with the cover story. As expected, the Hero Public Safety Commission and Government hadn't settled on one and he had to make absolutely sure they didn't settle on telling the truth. That would cause far more problems that it would solve, yet they probably believed it would be best.
The names of the dead and missing were prominent in the report. It was a media gesture. These reports - bits of them - were given to the public. It looked good for the HPSC's image that the dead and missing were the first things read. It made it seem like they cared. They didn't but they were at least practiced in that way in maintaining their image.
He cast his eyes down the names and resisted the urge to snort. Hisashi Riji was listed as missing. Apparently they sucked at identifying bodies. He'd have to go do that for them after this meeting. Interestingly though, there was another name he recognised. Nasutto Seki. He was an information broker in the underworld. Some said he was the information broker.
Mirai didn't think it was any coincidence that he'd been in the area. It just confirmed his link to All For One, though he wondered if Nasutto had any effects which had been collected from his body. They would be useful in tracking down others because while the head had been cut from the serpent, he was not naive enough to think it would die. It wouldn't die, and it wouldn't become a hydra or a phoenix, but it would probably become a whole lot of little annoying lizards! Sir Nighteye added to his mental note that when he went to identify Hisashi that he at least got a look at Nasutto's affects.
"Rebuilding has begun and Cementoss has come down to assist with the efforts."
The Hero was a relatively popular one but a good choice when it came to rebuilding quickly. With his control over cement, they could recycle insitu many of the components, though the steel would have to be reforged.
"But the media are still hounding us for an explanation," the speaker concluded.
That was his que to start paying proper attention and Sir Nighteye folded the report closed.
"I don't see why we just can't tell them the truth but place emphasis on the fact that All Might won and survived," one enlightened individual said.
"What truth? We don't even know who that villain was!" Someone objected.
Mirai's expression didn't change but he saw the Commissioner shake his head slightly. He felt relieved at that. The HPSC and government knew who the villain was, but they didn't want to make it public. He would still go to identify the body, but only as Hisashi Riji, not as All For One.
They may be more on top of this than he realised. However, telling the truth was not a suggestion that could be allowed, and thankfully another of the HPSC spoke up. "You want to let the public know that a villain, who has almost killed All Might himself came out of nowhere?" The new speaker shook her head theatrically. "It won't be long before everyone is suspected of being a villain."
That was probably going too far but her point was well made. All For One relied on hiding in plain sight. The thought that someone like that could be amongst them would panic the masses. They liked the thought that villains were someone who didn't fit, who weren't normal and who hid in dingy alleyways and back street bars. The public wouldn't like the fact that All For One was taken out in a respectable business area. They would hate the fact that the unnamed Hisashi Riji had been one of the most dangerous men in the world, had controlled a vast criminal empire, all while wining and dining the elite of society as the respected owner and Director of JBQC would not sit right because the damage was far more than a white collar crime. The damage and death was worthy of a true villain.
"The question, I believe, is who we blame this on," the Commissioner said, smoothly taking control.
Sir Nighteye liked the man. He tried to be truthful, but recognised that society could only handle so much truth before it cracked but he also tried to keep the lies simple. A substitution here, a day altered there. It made things easier to keep straight.
"What major villains have been taken down recently?" He asked.
Mirai had spent some time this morning looking for the answer to that exact question. As far as he could tell there was only one villain that fit the bill. Toxic Chainsaw. The villain had a large enough reputation that the public would know the name, and know that violence and death was associated with that name. And Toxic Chainsaw had been taken out primarily by the underground hero Scarab, working in concert with the rookie Eraserhead. There were a few others involved peripherally but the actual confrontation had been those two. So long as they got the pay, the two of them would most likely be pleased at the lack of attention. They would also think the Number One Hero was showboating but someone from the HPSC would explain it to them. Or enough of the situation that they understood.
"SeaLord?" someone suggested.
The Commissioner suddenly looked as tired as Sir Nighteye felt. "Someone not plastered all over the media," he added what should have been an obvious stipulation.
The meeting was silent. Mirai hadn't expected the Ministers to know anything but he had expected those from the HPSC to at least have some idea! Did they not read the reports heroes sent in?
"I believe Toxic Chainsaw is the only villain with enough reputation and a sufficiently quiet arrest," Sir Nighteye spoke to the table.
Most seemed surprised to see him. Heroes, even side kicks, were not usually invited to these meetings. It was one of the ways the HPSC kept control and the same reason Heroes were not allowed to be members of the HPSC but this was an unusual situation. They were required to work together to smooth this incident for the public.
Mirai watched as the Commissioner thought about it. He at least had recognised the villain's name immediately. Eventually he nodded. "Yes, I believe the underground heroes would be pleased to have someone take the credit," he concluded.
Mirai detected the slightest hint of sarcasm from him. There was history with one of the underground heroes. The sidekick had no doubt they would keep their mouths shut, but he now knew one of them would not think highly of Toshinori with the cover up. Good to know.
He rose which brought the eyes of everyone to him. "I'll make sure our agency works on a release to that effect," he told the room. "It will, of course, be sent to you for approval," Mirai added before someone could object.
The Commissioner nodded, which was both acceptance and dismissal and Mirai showed himself out. He couldn't solve all their problems and he had a body to identify.