My Hero Academia - A Darker Story

Forensic Investigation

It was another quiet day at the lab. It was empty aside from two individuals. One of them sat at her desk, eye glued to a microscope. Under the microscope was a clear glass cylinder with clear liquid inside. It looked completely unassuming to most people, but Himari couldn't take her eyes off it. Her curiosity was the main reason she remained in the lab so long while nearly everyone else had returned home.

She increased the resolution of the microscope on a corner of the glass. She brought out her hand and twisted them in complicated positions above the glass.

'There we go, base 250 successfully lysed.' She exhaled in relief. It was challenging work to cut extremely specific sections of DNA, but Himari knew she would become an expert in no time. Her quirk had allowed her to race through school and land a job in a research position, but it also left her with very little experience using her quirk.

She looked up and considered for a moment the strange time she lived in. Technological improvement had stalled after people began using their quirks for everything. Humanity was at the precipice of using enzymes to cut DNA, but now Himari was the perfect replacement for that. It made her happy that she could land a job that she found interesting, but at the same time she wondered how much more efficient humanity would have been by now if quirks never appeared.

Her train of thought was broken as she heard footsteps enter the lab. She turned to see a senior researcher, Akari.

'Not slacking off already, are we?' Akari joked, noticing Himari in her train of thought. She knew that Himari was a hard worker.

'Oh, no!' Himari announced with a nervous frown.

Akari smiled, then her face went darker. 'I need you to investigate some DNA.'

Himari picked up on the change in mood instantly. 'Is this a forensics assignment?'

'Yes,' Akari replied. She held up a plastic bag with some unknown material. 'We think this has DNA related to Asui.'

Himari's eyes widened. 'The frog girl?'

Akari nodded. 'Do you think you can have a look?'

'Of course!'

Himari didn't need any more explanation. Her quirk was very specific, allowing her to build a mental image of DNA or RNA in any given material. She could also manipulate its structure. Despite being so specific, Akari could see the tremendous versatility of the quirk. It could allow for rapid sequencing and editing in-vivo, a technology that is only present in a limited fashion.

'Good luck,' Akari said. Himari barely noticed as she was already in the zone, preparing a flat petri dish for the sample. She didn't have to prepare it in any way because she could immediately observe it in the sample, which saved time and helped to preserve the DNA.

With some complicated hand positions, Himari had quickly built a mental picture of the DNA.

Human. Not frog DNA. This belongs to someone else.

Himari brought to mind the countless sequences of DNA she had observed from individuals throughout her life. She quickly narrowed down on the similarities that the DNA had with others.

Alleles shared by 50% of women.

This brought doubt into Himari's mind. Was she actually looking at Tsuyu Asui's DNA that was left over from the crime scene? She quickly dispelled the notion as she remembered just how different Tsuyu Asui's DNA was from any other human, or frog for that matter.

Now was the hard part. She continued investigating the DNA to try and tease apart any traits; in other words, physical appearances of the suspect. She eventually narrowed down on three observations.