Chapter 29: Closer
Tskuauchi was considering quitting. In the last month not only had villains managed to infiltrate the UA cultural festival, but the Todoroki brothers had started robbing banks. Any and every CEO had somehow decided the best course of action was to put Tsukauchi on speed dial to ask for constant updates on who they were going to hit next. The only link they had found so far was that the CEOs of the targeted banks were all guilty of crimes, but their crimes ranged from felony tax evasion to sexual harassment. The police had had to open investigations on the management of every major bank in Tokyo just to stay ahead of them, which had led to a fair amount of arrests, but so far the actual villains they were looking for stayed elusive.
The government was actually looking into changing the laws to prevent corruption in business as the result of the whole fiasco, though, so at least there were some positive changes coming out of it. It seemed that wherever Freezerburn went, he sparked major outrage and reform, a detail that the media hadn't been kind enough to miss. In the month since his villain debut, he had already managed to gain a cult following rivaling Stain, which was even more troublesome because it meant that the league had increased in popularity and support as well. It was a headache and there was now an entire task force trying to crack down on those selling villain merch, especially since the Todoroki brothers' signature trench coats were quickly becoming a trend.
It also seemed that the league had somehow acquired another warp quirk which was less powerful than Kurogiri's warpgate, but the police had been hoping Kurogiri's capture would cripple the league more. The giant villain Kurogiri had been looking for when he was captured hadn't made another appearance and they didn't have any way of knowing if he had made contact with any other members of the league of villains, though Tsukauchi figured it was probably only a matter of time until he did. There had been reports of earthquakes in the area a few days ago, but by the time heroes showed up, there was no one there, just a massive amount of destruction, so they were no closer to capturing that villain either.
Tsukauchi looked at the clock, then grabbed his coat and headed for the door. Nedzu had invited him to lunch, supposedly to discuss the Mastermind case, but he suspected part of it was just Nedzu trying to keep him from burning out. He appreciated the thought, but he was pretty sure he'd burned out months ago and was just running on fumes now . Still, it would be nice to eat something besides coffee and instant ramen.
He gave his name to the hostess at the restaurant and was led to a booth near the back where Nedzu was already waiting. Nedzu gave him a signature smile and gestured for him to sit.
"Hello Tsukauchi! How are you today?"
Tsukauchi sighed, "You really don't want to know. I don't even want to know and it's my life."
Nedzu chuckled, "Well then, I'm glad that I've given you an excuse to get out of your office at least. How are things at the station?"
"Hectic." Tsukauchi said. "What with all the bank robberies and the open investigations of corruption in the industry, we could hire an entire other force and still not have enough men. It really makes me miss Toshinori, you know?"
Nedzu nodded, "He fulfilled his role as symbol of peace very well, but that has just made the difference all the more obvious now that he is gone."
"I wish he were still here." Tsukauchi frowned at the table. "I just feel like he'd know what to do. Even if he didn't, his smile might help everyone feel like the world wasn't crashing down around our ears."
"Just one more thing these villains have taken from us, Mastermind in particular." Nedzu sighed. "I do have to wonder if he knew what he was doing when he killed the symbol of peace. If there was ever any way to make a lasting influence on society, that was it."
Tsukauchi shrugged, "Have you had any luck with the leads we got from Eri?"
Nedzu's eyes brightened, "As a matter of fact, I have! First of all, I believe I have ruled out the possibility of an analysis or intelligence quirk."
Tsukauchi gaped at him in shock, "What? How is that even possible?"
Nedzu smiled, "My quirk makes me more intelligent than most humans, not all. It is within the realm of possibility that there are humans naturally just as smart as I am, regardless of quirk. During Eraserhead's brief interaction with Mastermind before school started, he reported that Mastermind continued fighting with the same tenacity even after his quirk was erased, which leads me to believe that he does not use his quirk when he fights or when he strategizes. This, combined with the indications we received from Eri that Mastermind was abused, leads me to believe that he most likely has a very weak or undesirable quirk." He met Tsukauchi's eye. "There is even the possibility, however slight, that Mastermind might be quirkless."
"Quirkless?" Tsukauchi said in disbelief, "How?"
Nedzu shrugged, "The quirkless face extreme discrimination. Bullying of quirkless children often goes unreported and a vast majority commit suicide before they turn 18. If one were intelligent enough, they might have become frustrated with society's treatment of them and decided to mistreat society in return. I sincerely hope that is not the case, but we would be wise to not discount the possibility."
Tsukauchi sighed, "Alright, so Mastermind likely has a weak quirk, or none at all, which is… crazy. What else can you tell me?"
"Well, since he likely has a weak quirk, Mastermind's short stature is most likely not due to his quirk." Nedzu said. "Which means that we are almost definitely dealing with a teenager. This is only more likely if Mastermind turns out to be quirkless because of the high suicide rate."
Tsukauchi ran his hands through his hair, "You mean we've been being outsmarted at every turn by a child? "
Nedzu was no longer smiling as he nodded, "That does appear to be the case. I only wish that I could have met him before he turned to villainy. Such a brilliant mind deserves to be nurtured and I would have loved to teach him." He sighed. "But unfortunately, I have to catch him instead."
"Alight," Tsukauchi said, still reeling, "any luck with the Overhaul lead?"
Nedzu shook his head, "There are still too many possibilities. He threatened a lot of people during his short life, which, though impressive, means we will have to narrow our search by other criteria before that particular clue can prove useful."
Tsukauchi nodded, "Anything else?"
"Nope!" Nedzu chirped. "That's everything I know for now."
Tsukauchi sighed, "Well, it's double what we had before. Is it bad that I kinda wish we didn't know?" He shook his head. "I can't believe that Mastermind is a kid. Seriously, what drives a teenager to kill hundreds of people?"
"I'm sure it wasn't just one thing." Nedzu shrugged. "It was most likely a variety of little failings that all added up until he just couldn't take it anymore. But it does raise a very uncomfortable question."
"Oh?" Tsukauchi asked. "And what's that?"
Nedzu met his eyes with intensity, "Are we responsible for creating the very villain that will destroy us?"
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