A block of cheese sat next to Nezu as he tapped his fingers against his desk, the mouse-like features of his face displaying absolutely no emotion other than a facsimile smile.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Midoriya, but until there has been significant signs of improvement in your son's mental health, we can not grant you visitation rights."

The woman before him stood outraged as only a mother can be in regards to their children. Her tiny, chubby frame that in the moment, made her seem like a giant from the sheer fury she possessed.

"But he needs me! My son has been gone for nearly two years and was forced into becoming a villain and I haven't even seen him once since he was brought back!"

His ratish nose twitched at the sensation of the room. On one hand he completely agreed with her that it likely would be best for the boy to see her again, but on the other, he had to play the game of politics with people far above even his position.

"We're doing all we can at the time, I'll see if I can perhaps get him sorted out quicker, but Ma'am you have to understand that this is barely in my control if even a single thing goes wrong."

Nezu cringed internally when he saw a medley of tears start to form around the mother's eyes, yet he remained composed when she fired back at him.

"But it was UA's fault to begin with and you're telling me my son has to suffer because of this school's failure?"

He allowed some of his stoicism to fade into how tired he truly felt.

"I can't do more than I already have unless by some miracle Izuku decides to agree to be treated of his own choosing, otherwise the best we can hope for is him not being locked away in Hades. This is all that can be done at the moment. I truly am sorry."

Now the tears flowed in earnest, giving the poor woman the sense of something just too pathetic to be dignified. Something which struck a chord in the animal as she shouted out her regrets until they became a garbled mess of sobs. Inko didn't have it in her to even stand where she was and ran from the room, cursing UA with all her pain which left the principal by himself under the late evening shine of the waning sun.

He shut his eyes for a moment, taking in the darkness and finding comfort in the nothingness. Deeply he breathed in, allowing the tension inside him to mount until his lungs couldn't bear the pressure. Slowly his vision returned as he leaned back in the leather bound chair.

A mild sting of pain ran through his chest and instinctively he cringed, reminded of where he learned such sensations that bothered him even now. How many years had it been? Ten? Fifthteen maybe, twenty even if he considered his time at university. God, the time just felt pointless in those little moments that put him right back in that seat with that screen glowing in his eyes and seeing those screaming faces.

No, you outsmarted them. You escaped, and they're all imprisoned in Tartarus. You have better things to focus on now.

His paws shivered a bit as he lifted the block of cheese to his mouth. Just enjoy the taste and all will be okay. It was gone in seconds, and after a glass of milk, Nezu had regained his usual selfhood. Reactively his paw went to a file in his desk, one that was thick with papers that all had a single topic in common. A picture was clipped to the outside, showing what used to be Izuku Midoriya.

Flipping through the documents, he found page after page of murder, torture, arson. He hadn't known the young man well, not to the level of Toshinori or Aizawa, but still he saw nothing but a personal failing. The boy was so full of potential and hope, of life, that his current being was simply...unthinkable. Nezu continued to scroll by the three hundred documents like some sort of ritual, trying to find something, anything which could give him an edge and grant him a view into the framework of Izuku's shattered mind and perhaps grant a foothold into how to deal with this issue.

Gore and blood, death and crime, all acting out at a chaotic randomness of wrath. How did they push him to this? What was said or threatened? Did he love them, did they think they loved him? How deep did they til the roots of his brain, or did they not even need to?

One idea after the other showed up and had he'd been five years younger, he would have simply retreated into biting his tail. Then, he saw something on the very last page of the file, a medical report made on the very same night Izuku was retrieved.

There was shown to be traces of an unknown chemical substance in his bloodstream, a compound which was currently undergoing review.

It was then Nezu recalled something from his past, something which made him feel cold right down to his soul. He remembered the poke of the needle and the green fluid that invaded his body over and over again until at last he began to understand more than just the base pain of the scalpel and the syringe. Where he started to fully understand the suffering that he would be put through for the sake of their goals and stood to lose more than his body, but his mind, his very understanding of the things around him.

He was trapped and they took it all away while dangling his mother over that bubbling barrel.

The rat froze for seconds as he robotically reminded his body to move. Why would Izuku lose his ability to use All For One when according to All Might's testimony that was impossible? How…

The file fell to the floor as the rodent grabbed the phone on his desk, punching in a number to the chief medical professionals of the hospital. He ordered in no uncertain terms for the fluid taken from the teen's bloodstream to be examined again, this time in cross reference to quirk stimulants such as Trigger. The doctors were apprehensive about doing so on such short notice but they swore it would be done.

From that point Nezu bit into another block of sharp cheddar, trying to enjoy the taste as he waited to hear back, his anxiety growing with each tick of the clock. Then once that was finished, his paws reached for the mountain of paperwork he had placed aside for the day. Never had he been as thankful to the trouble of running such a highly held institution as UA. Everything from building proceedings to disciplinary paper to ordering better menus for the students, he focused with such pinpoint dedication that he nearly jumped out of his seat in fright when his phone began to ring again.

Looking to the clock on his wall, he learned it was now seven in the afternoon. He had used three hours to complete his duties and strangely that made him upset. But that was short lived, instead his paw lifted the phone to his ear and answered. It was a few words, nothing more, yet in that exchange Nezu knew he had found what he needed.

He had found how to save his student.