For such a serious discussion, I choose to follow Izumi's example in having something to drink on hand, if only so that I can make sure to do a spit-take in her direction when Melissa gets to an appropriate part of the story. When she asks me what I want, I say something as dark as my soul, so she gets me a hot chocolate. "You know me so well~," I say with a fake swoon. Or maybe it's real, Himi did grab a rather large cup to drain a bunch of my blood into so she has something to drink as well.
Eri, of course, is too young for serious adult discussions and as such is playing video games in the living room.
"So, quirks." Melissa starts with her fingertips pressing against each other on the other side of the table. "You both know about the first recorded quirk appearance, correct?" We both nod, though I personally have to hold back the urge to do a dramatically inappropriate spit-take. Even I can admit that it would be in poor taste just because she said 'recorded'.
"Well, that's just what it is. The first 'recorded quirk'." She continues, confirming my thoughts. "There were other appearances of people with powers that had been popping up at the time, even in people who were substantially older. However, the glowing baby was both the first instance that could be identified as someone having been born with a power, and where doctors and scientists could identify a difference."
She pauses to take a breath and a sip of her tea. Which is kind of funny since she's American, but apparently Yagi introduced her to tea while she was growing up and it just ended up as her comfort drink. The way her fingers are drumming against the steaming cup show just how much having this conversation is stressing her out, so she definitely needs it.
"As things progressed, with that first difference continuing to become a common identifying variable for those born with their powers, and with the following generations having visibly stronger powers, it was decided that they would label that common identifier as the meta-gene. Which is today known as the quirk factor. However," she says, starting to speak more slowly as she meets all of our eyes. "That does not mean that those without the meta-gene, yet continued to display powers, simply stopped being born. And unlike those who were born with a quirk factor, these individuals' bodies continued to operate the same as those humans who displayed no powers whatsoever."
"Oh," Himi interrupts, making a smacking sound as her lips come loose from the rim of her cup. "You mean how people with a quirk factor are born without an appendix, any wisdom teeth, and a single toe-joint?" Let it never be said that my girlfriend lacks knowledge about the human body! Though everyone who's a part of this discussion is aware of those facts, it's actually not common knowledge to the general public. Why would it be, when it's doubtful whether or not it would ever become relevant to them? Unless they become a doctor or something similar, they would never use such information.
Melissa gives Himi a nod. "That's correct. So, there were three groups of people running around at the time. Baseline humans, quirked humans, and what we'll say are mutant humans. As a rule, it became clear that quirked humans were going to become the new norm for the human race. As history shows, the baseline humans were not happy about this, and the quirk war began. However," she holds up a finger to punctuate her point. "What is not taught in history is the fact that mutant humans were forced to fight both sides."
She takes a sip of tea, allowing Izumi to speak up. "But why? Shouldn't they have been on the side of the quirked humans since they all had powers?"
I shake my head at her naivety. "No, because they weren't the same. Quirked humans could go to a doctor, and they would be able to identify the common factors in which they were the same, they could be categorized in the same group." I peer at Melissa. "I'm assuming that the same couldn't be said for mutant humans?"
She nods. "Correct again. Mutant humans displayed powers, that's true, but apart from that no one could point at any sort of identifier. Their bodies were baseline human, but their powers clearly marked them as quirked. They could blend in with either group or neither, depending on whether or not they chose to display their abilities. This made the other two groups suspicious and hostile, since they could never be sure they wouldn't sell them out to the other side if it became convenient for them. Mutant humans ended up returning the hostility, and it was at this point that all three sides came to the same realization."
Her eyes focus on me, trying to pin me to my seat. "Mutant humans were lower in number than both of the other groups, but their abilities were naturally more powerful than those with quirks. This made them dangerous to both sides, made them scared."
"And scared people are dangerous people," Himi says somberly, prompting me to reach out to take her hand in mine and give it a comforting squeeze that she returns.
"Scared people are dangerous people," Melissa agrees. "Mutant humans were targeted by both groups, and with numbers on their side it was only a matter of time before they were removed from the equation. So they decided to do what the other sides were already afraid of. They chose a side, and blended in with the people they chose to support." She shrugs before continuing in a sarcastic voice. "It's not like any of the baseline humans could tell they were any different if they didn't use their abilities, right? And they displayed their abilities, so the quirked people couldn't say they weren't quirked, as long as they didn't talk about having baseline human biology." She shakes her head. "There's just one problem that nobody seemed to think about."
Here, she pauses, clearly wanting us to fill in the blank for this part of the story. Judging by the serious thinking expression on Izumi's face, she's trying her hardest to figure out what it is. Himi and I don't need to do that, though, because we already know. We've known for a while, actually, and all thanks to one little throwaway comment made by All For One, warning us of his own experiences.
"There were more powers coming into the open than quirks and mutants." I say confidently, causing Izumi's head to whip towards me with wide eyes before turning back towards Melissa just as fast when she opens her mouth.
"There were more types of powers coming out," she agrees, giving me a considering look. "I'm assuming you know what they were called?"
I shrug and take a sip of my hot chocolate before answering. "Well, I was told about how benders don't have a quirk factor, but judging by your expression I'm assuming that there are even more?"
Melissa wiggles her hand in a so-so gesture. "Yes, but also no," she sighs. "There are definitely more powers out in the world than just quirks, and even benders, so long as you know to look." She snorts. "Honestly, they aren't even particularly hidden!" She gestures towards me. "I mean, just look at you! There's plenty of evidence about your mutation, but since you have a double-jointed pinky toe most people won't even consider that it exists!"
"To be fair," Himi pipes up, "his power is kind of bullshit." Izumi nods rapidly in agreement, which is an ultimate betrayal! My girlfriend and the sister I'm cordial with but would still happily torture aren't allowed to agree with each other! That has to be against some sort of code!
"Point," Melissa agrees easily, adding onto the betrayal! "Still, there are plenty of powers out there that aren't quirks, but it's a problem trying to categorize them unless they or the government decides to acknowledge them as something other than quirks. Plenty of places are all too happy to just call any sort of power a quirk and move on with their lives."
"Like the Powerpuff Girls," I say with a grimace. Despite their clearly not natural origin, the States have them as officially having the same quirk known simply as 'X-Factor', with an addendum that they each developed unique sub-quirks that differ due to their personalities. Very obvious, very complete nonsense, given the entire town they live in knows how they were 'born', and their father/creator even published an official news article about how it happened.
So yeah, I can see what Melissa means when she says it's hard to quantify the diversity of powers that actually exist since it's easier for the people in charge to just say something is a quirk. But it seems like we've gotten off topic…
"So you're saying that some quirkless people all actually have powers, like Izuku?" Izumi asks after shooting an impressed glance at me, but Melissa shakes her head.
"No, I'm not saying that some quirkless people have powers. I'm saying that quirkless people stopped being born completely by the halfway point of the quirk war." She doesn't wait for us to respond or absorb that information, plowing on and picking up speed as she talks, emotion quickly seeping into her voice as it starts to rise. "Quirkless is an antiquated term that literally shouldn't apply in this day and age! Everyone has a power at this point, but do the people in charge make the logical decision to bring that to the public's attention? Noooo! They choose to allow the misconception to percolate through public perception without restraint! They make an active decision to allow a portion of the human population to be looked down on because they can't work past their own paranoia!"
I can't help but smirk at her rant, shooting Himi a smug look that all but brags about how awesome my cousin is, which causes my blonde vampire to roll her eyes and tilt her head in a 'yeah, duh' sort of way.
"But why are they paranoid about this getting out," Izumi almost demands to know with a scowl on her face, interrupting our cousin. "What's so terrible about this being common knowledge!"
Melissa takes a calming breath and lets it out slowly, repeating the action a few times before she's ready to finish. "Right. Well, we all know Izuku's ability, which we can all agree is much more impressive than the vast majority of quirks, correct?" We all nod. "Well, I like to call my ability Problem Solver. Basically, whenever there's a problem with something, say; a phone, car, one of my inventions, and so on, I can identify whatever the problem is and gain the knowledge of how to bring the item to full functionality."
My eyes narrow at her. "Every good inventor needs a good explosion…" I say, recalling her usual claim whenever something she's making blows up on her. She returns me a lopsided grin.
"Yep," she says, confirming my suspicion. "It doesn't matter if the item I 'Problem Solve' hasn't been fully invented yet, my ability will still tell me how to bring it to full functionality so long as it's actually capable of being so." She looks back at Izumi. "Pretty powerful, wouldn't you say?" She nods, prompting Melissa to point at her.
"Exactly. Mutants like Izuku and I, our powers are a magnitude stronger than all but the most powerful quirk, and even then it's up for debate."
"Governments are scared of what we'll do with that power, once we know there are enough of us to fight against them."