"Huh," Anakin interjected.
That's right—that was her Quirk. The duration of the transformation depended on the amount of blood consumed. I'd heard that a single cup's worth could last a full day.
However, it only changed her appearance. Personality, skills, and even other Quirks didn't transfer perfectly. It was useful for infiltration and gathering information, but hardly an overwhelmingly powerful ability.
"But get this! Lately, I've started being able to use my Quirk a little bit even while transformed!"
"…What? And that's how you're using the Force too?"
"Probably! Though using my Quirk while transformed makes me really tired and the transformation ends quickly, so it's only a tiny bit…"
"No, that's more than enough. So it grew through repeated use…"
A Quirk was part of one's physical capabilities. Just like muscles, it would grow stronger the more it was used. So Toga's Quirk had developed as well.
In her case, though, using it required someone else's blood. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have had many chances to train it… but for the past six months or so, she had been drinking my blood almost daily. She'd had plenty of opportunities.
"Wait, but doesn't that still seem off? Your Quirk only lets you transform into someone else, right? And you can only use my abilities while you're transformed. So why are you able to sense the Force even in your original form?"
"Who knows?"
Toga tilted her head cutely at my question.
Well, fair enough. If she knew the exact reason, she would have explained it already.
Quirks really were such a troublesome thing… Whenever something inexplicable happened, it was usually because of a Quirk, yet the exact mechanism was almost never clear.
Perhaps researchers could come up with some kind of hypothesis…
"Kotoha, for now, could you ask her to transform once? If she can use the Force while transformed, she should be able to sense it at roughly the same level as you."
"Ah… right. Got it. …Toga, since we're here, I'd like to see how much of my power you can use. Would you transform for me?"
"Sure! Oh, but I'm all out of stock right now…"
"…Blood, huh. Alright… nn."
Since it was summer and she wasn't wearing anything with sleeves, she could have bitten my wrist or arm—but instead, she sank her teeth into the side of my neck, right near the collarbone.
Lately Toga had been drinking my blood more frequently, and for some reason she always seemed to prefer these strangely delicate spots. Was there some kind of trend going on inside her head?
"Pwah~ Thanks for the meal!"
She pulled her face away with an expression of pure bliss.
…Did my blood really taste that good?
"Okay, I'm transforming now!"
"Wait, wait, wait—why are you stripping?!"
Just as she was about to transform, Toga suddenly started taking off her clothes. And not just her outer layer—she was removing everything, including her underwear. In other words, she was about to go completely naked. Naturally, everyone present immediately looked away.
"I can't help it! When I transform, I also copy the person's clothes. If I don't start naked, I'd end up wearing one set of clothes on top of another, and that gets really annoying."
"Ah… I see."
If there was a restriction like that, it made sense… Wait, no—that wasn't the point!
"Even so, don't just suddenly strip like that… I don't know where to look!"
"You can look at me as much as you want, Kotoha-chan! Here~"
"Stop that! A girl your age shouldn't be doing things like this!"
Even though this world wasn't as technologically advanced as the Republic, it still had decent scientific capabilities. And with Quirks in existence, there was no telling who might be watching from where! Even if she still had her underwear on, exposing her chest like that was completely inappropriate!
"Fufu, Kotoha-chan is so kind. That's why I love you so much~"
"…We're not getting anywhere. Could you please hurry up…?"
I turned my entire body away from her and answered.
She seemed like she wanted to say something more, but quickly composed herself, turned her back to me, and properly warned me before starting to undress again. I heard some rustling for a short while… then a soft pasari sound, after which everything went quiet.