Detective Midoriya

Chapter 9

Stepping onto campus was practically a religious experience. Izuku clutched his tattered yellow backpack tightly as he adjusted his new, equally yellow fanny pack, anxiety plaguing him. Part if him whispered that it was some sort of elaborate prank, and his scholarship was going to be yanked out of his hands. But he couldn't think that way, he had to live in the moment. At least, that was what Sasaki kept insisting.

He slowly found his way towards what he hoped was the correct building. Today alone he was supposed to sit in on one of Meiji's classes, to see the classroom firsthand.

Izuku picked what he hoped was the correct hallway, scanning room numbers. There was the right classroom! Luckily he had only made it a few minutes late. He was going to sneak in and do his best to avoid attention, but that plan was aborted when he stumbled upon entering the room. He managed to catch himself, but the noise made all eyes on him. 

He swallowed thickly, internally hoping for the sweet release of death. "Is this Foundational Quirk Studies?"

The professor, a composed older gentleman, turned around. "Midoriya, you made it. Come, sit. Class, I want to introduce you to the author of Analysis 18" 

All students immediately snapped their attention to him. "There's no way," said a girl with magenta hair. "He's like twelve." 

"I'm fifteen," Izuku mumbled, sitting down in one of the only seats left - naturally it was right in the front. 

"Midoriya is undeniably the author of Analysis 18," Dr. Meiji said. "He's here today as a guest, so be respectful." 

Someone in the back snorted. "He's probably got some analysis quirk." 

Izuku bit his lip, unsure whether or not to speak up. He settled on simply listening, taking notes on everything Dr. Meiji was saying. He could feel the other students staring at him - he just hoped it wouldn't get as violent as middle school had been. 

As it was, Izuku desperately wanted to participate in the class, but old habits die hard. Besides, he didn't even want to think about what kind of retaliation college students would be capable of. 

Izuku managed to stay silent until Dr. Meiji asked him point-blank, "Midoriya, based on this picture, what would you say these two people's quirks are?" 

He studied the picture, a scene from a high school hallway. It featured two students, a boy with barely visible fangs and slitted pupils and a girl with downcast eyes. 

"The boy has a minor snake quirk - I would guess he produces a weak venom, but nothing that has changed his physiology too much." 

"Class?"

The student with magenta hair from earlier scoffed. "It could also be something like a cat quirk." 

"Yes, it could be if it weren't the faint scale pattern peeking out from his shirt collar," Izuku pointed out 

"And what of the girl?" Meiji asked.

"It could be some kind of emitter type," one student hesitantly ventured. 

"Or some mental quirk?"

Meiji listened to several more suggestions before asking, "What do you think, Midoriya?"

"She's quirkless," he said simply.

"What?"

"That's not very likely."

Dr. Meiji quieted them down before saying, "now tell us why you think this, Midoriya."

"Well there's no evidence of a quirk, but most of it's all about  her body language. The way she's hunched in on herself, and it looks like she's nervously moving her fingers... It all screams quirkless."