Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 59: Past

"Why hello Aizawa!" Nedzu chirped cheerfully. He was already waiting with Tsukauchi in a backroom at the police station when Shouta arrived, a steaming cup of tea in his paws as two more cups sat ready at the table. Shouta wanted to be surprised that the rat had beat him there, but the more he thought about it, of course the rat would be bright eyed and bushy tailed with curiosity after receiving an appropriately cryptic text in the middle of the night. He thrived off of investigation and chaos.

"I, for one, would like to know why you sicced Nedzu on me in the middle of the night." Tsukauchi groaned tiredly. "Not that I don't appreciate the tea, but some warning would have been nice."

Shouta, thoroughly annoyed, pulled the notebook Viridian had given him from his capture weapon and slammed it on the table, "Explain. Now."

Tsukauchi looked at the notebook like it could explode at any moment, as if Shouta would stoop that low just because he was angry. It was kind of insulting. He would be much more creative.

Tsukauchi glanced between the book and Aizawa a few times, "I'm sorry Eraser, I'm confused. What is this?"

"That." Shouta jammed a finger at the notebook cover. "Is a full investigation into a lead that you told me was a dead end. The symbol of evil? Ring a bell? It might sound a little familiar from the only interrogation we managed to get with a Berserker before he disappeared from police custody!!! "

Tsukauchi's face hardened, "I already told you, the Symbol of Evil is dead. I already confirmed it with the last hero that fought him. There's no way he could have survived."

Shouta glared at him, "Then would you care to explain why our Berserkers show the exact same symptoms as All for One's previous victims?!"

There was a loud moment of silence as Shouta glared at Tsukauchi and Nedzu's shocked faces, then Tsukauchi was grabbing the notebook, frantically flipping through it as he tried to prove Shouta wrong.

"There's sources in there too." Shouta pointed out. "Just in case you're still stubbornly insisting on keeping your eyes screwed shut."

Nedzu had stood to look over Tsukauchi's shoulder as he read, "Where did you get this?"

Shouta sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Viridian."

Tsukauchi looked up at him in shock, "I thought you were going to try to arrest him."

Shouta raised one eyebrow skeptically, "The kid's smart enough to write that and you think he's not gonna think of a way around my fighting style. He hit me with a laser pointer."

Tsukauchi at least had the good graces to hide his chuckles. Nedzu didn't, but Shouta hadn't expected him to. A few minutes passed with no sounds except for the flipping of pages and the occasional shuffle as Nedzu's whiskers twitched in excitement or whatever that rat was feeling at the moment.

Finally, the two of them reached the end of the notebook and Nedzu took it from Tsukauchi and shut it with a snap, "Well, that is concerning."

"So there's not any holes in his research." Shouta didn't phrase it as a question. He'd read though the notebook himself and the kid was nothing if not thorough. "Have you read the sources he referenced?"

"Only in passing." Nedzu answered. "To be honest, many intellectuals are blinded by their biases, which means that topics such as quirk transfer are often regarded as nothing more than legends and fairytales and any researchers who pursue them end up as laughing stocks within the community. All this to say that your vigilante has basically compiled every source one can find on the topic, and there are so many better respected discussions on the topic of quirk theory that I must admit I myself hadn't even considered quirk transfer as a possible consideration in what seemed to be an almost routine drug ring investigation."