04/03/2022

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The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 52

"Leave the bottle," Commissioner Kouki Sozo said.

He was at Haita-Teki. It was an exclusive restaurant that offered a street izakaya den feel without the risk of a real izakaya den. No one was going to overhear any conversation here, except the chef and he was paid to be professionally deaf. Haita-Teki had made their reputation that way, with several rooms that were set up with full floor to ceiling screens, and fans to give the impression that he was sitting on the street. One of the rooms also had the drip of rain for that full immersion experience.

Kouki poured the sake and downed the cup when the door opened. He turned slightly and smiled. "Sheeba!" He called as the chef also yelled, "Irasshaimase!"

"Kouki," Sheeba said as he came over and took the seat next to him. "Sapporo Beer," he ordered.

"You still drink that shit?"

"You still drink that," Sheeba Yadav countered but he was smiling. "I was surprised to get your call," he added as the chef put down a tankard of beer. "Nasu dengaku and yakitori," Sheeba ordered.

The Commissioner laughed. It was somewhat bitter.

Sheeba looked at him. "It's not as fun at the top as you thought?" He asked.

"I never thought it would be fun," Kouki countered.

"It's just politics."

"Now you know that's not true. It's heroics," Sozo countered.

"Yeah, that's worse," Sheeba announced.

"Better than law," Kouki pointed out before sighing. "It's going okay," he said seriously.

"Good to hear," he said before taking a swig of beer. "Though, there is something, or you wouldn't have called."

"There's always something, but yes, this time that something could involve you."

Sheeba snorted. He had been invited, so of course there was something that could involve him. But dancing about the topic is what they did. It's how they'd become friends by dancing around friendship all those years ago.

"Yeah, laugh it up. It's not like you have to deal with your predecessors' issues," Kouki said softly.

Sheeba gave him a look.

"Do you remember All Might's battle with Toxic Chainsaw?" The Commissioner asked.

"Not really," Yadav murmured. He only followed heroes in so far as they generated business.

"One might have thought you did, given you are pursuing a request for information."

"I'm not," Sheeba said firmly.

"Beacon is," Kouki told him.

"We are?"

Sozo nodded briefly. "You are," he confirmed.

Sheeba thought about what he knew about All Might and that particular battle. It wasn't much. All Might was the number one hero and took out a lot of villains. For those who made a study of heroics, they could give details but he really didn't know. All Might's agency took care of any legal issues the man encountered and if they couldn't then the Commission did. This was really far more Kouki's gig, given he was the Commissioner. But apparently Beacon, which was one of the firms he sponsored, had put in a Request For Information. That meant the regular request had been denied and this request was accompanied by legal documentation. Beacon was a firm that did a lot of pro-bono work. It looked good and added to his reputation but given that Kouki had asked him here, they had stumbled on something hot.

He took a swig of beer as he thought. "I'm going to need more details about the case," Sheeba said. He could probably find it from what Kouki had told him but it would be easier with more details. And… he wouldn't deny he was curious.

Kouki shook his head. "I can't tell you," he said.

"Tell me what you can," Sheeba instructed. Beacon was on to something big. He'd need to know something of the details to come up with a convincing reason they were dropping the request.

The Commissioner nodded and took a few sips of sake before he answered. "Most villains are small fry. They don't plan and they are brought in pretty quickly. The more dangerous ones plan and, well, a lot of heroes ignore them."

The plate of yakitori was placed in front of Sheeba. He took one of the sticks and slid a piece of chicken off it.

"Underground heroes usually deal with them but every now and then there's someone who's too dangerous," Kouki continued.

"Toxic Chainsaw?" Sheeba asked.

There was a slight pause before Sozo answered. "Yes," he replied.

Yadav didn't give him a look. Instead he filed the pause in his memory. It meant more than he knew.

"We track those villains in a number of ways. In this case, it was one of his underling's children," the Commissioner said.

"So what's the problem?" Sheeba asked before sliding another piece of chicken off the stick. The Nasu dengaku then arrived. It smelt good.

"The kid was kidnapped by his father about 10 years ago," Kouki told him.

Sheeba frowned. There was something there. He didn't quite get it but he could tell there was something wrong.

"Beacon is representing the mother," the Commissioner told him.

"Wait a second," Yadav said, as things came together for him. "If you tracked Toxic Chainsaw via the kid, who you knew was kidnapped, why didn't you nab the kid during the operation? The kid wasn't actually with Toxic Chainsaw… were they?" he asked suddenly.

"The kid was in school," Kouki confirmed for him.

It didn't tell him why the kid wasn't nabbed at school. Surely it couldn't have been that dangerous? Sheeba's look demanded a further explanation.

"I can't tell you," the Commissioner shook his head, downing another small cup of sake.

"I'm going to need something to tell the mother," Yadav pressed. He was smelling cover up here, which wasn't that surprising but he was getting the impression that the mother was one of the few people who could damage the cover up. She probably didn't even know. And he was willing to bet that someone had already spoken to her, probably someone with a vested interest in the cover up and she had rejected their version of events.

Kouki gave him a dark look.

"Kouki, you're my friend but look at this from my point of view. Beacon is supporting a mother, whose kid was kidnapped ten years ago by her villain husband. She's requesting information about a very public case and you want me to come up with a convincing reason as to why she should drop it? Parents don't drop cases looking for their children. And anyone even hearing about this case is going to wonder how you bought Beacon off."

His friend had the good taste to look annoyed about the truth. Kouki would never look ashamed about this. You didn't get to be the Commissioner if you were ashamed, just the same way as he would never have gotten to be the head of his firm if he experienced shame.

Sozo groaned, and rubbed one hand on his face.

The chef had the good taste to give them a bow and leave after placing another bottle of sake in front of Kouki and a large tankard of beer in front of him.

Sheeba watched as Kouki's face moved as he thought. He could have done it without changing expression but it was nice that Sozo was still relaxed enough to show expression.

"I can't tell you everything," The Commissioner said finally. "But let's just say that a very senior hero made a very dumb call, and that entire mission was scrapped from the moment it was suggested."

Sheeba looked surprised at that.

"We needed to take out Toxic Chainsaw, no question about that," Kouki explained at his look. "It should have been done differently," he added.

Yadav nodded. "Hindsight is ever perfect."

Kouki snorted. "Foresight should have been enough for this," he muttered.

"So the entire mission, while successful, was a series of clusterfucks that Beacon's representation for this woman, and her Freedom of Information request is about to pull the covers off?" he summarised.

"Something like that."

Sheeba frowned. "So just blame Soukan?" he suggested, referring to Kouki's predecessor. Wasn't that how politics worked? When something went wrong, you blamed the person who was in the job before you for doing something wrong.

"Can't do that." The current Commissioner didn't offer any further explanation. Nothing was needed. Kouki owed Soukan for something.

"Blame the hero?"

"Think about who was involved," his friend told him.

"Ugh," Sheeba sighed. All Might. He'd never really met the man but he was insanely popular. The insinuation that he'd done something wrong would not go over well with the masses. "Did he?" he couldn't help the question.

Kouki downed another saucer of sake and then shook one hand in the air in a maybe sign.

Sheeba took a few gulps of beer to give himself time to think. All Might had made bad decisions on that mission but not the decisions causing Kouki a headache now. Which, in the context of the case, said that someone had deliberately made the call to delay picking up the kid. That in the delay, the kid had disappeared. Kouki wanting to cover it up told him that there was a lot of irregularities in the case, no matter how public it was.

"This is one of those cases where the truth does not serve the public interest," the Commissioner said.

Yadav sighed. He understood those ones. Well, maybe not understood. The public was a lot more resilient that politicians gave them credit for. But he knew about those cases. Enough of them would shake public confidence in the system and there were enough examples from other countries which were very illustrative of what happened when the public lost confidence in the system.

Japan did not need that.

"All right," he said. "So someone decided the kid wasn't worth picking up immediately, and the mother is pissed. Why not let Nighteye take the fall?" He couldn't help but ask.

The way Kouki sighed was interesting.

"Oh," Sheeba murmured to indicate his understanding. His friend had wanted Nighteye to take the fall but the hero had probably made threats. There was still the cover up to consider, which Nighteye could pull the covers off, even if he was involved. And the hero could probably claim he was doing it because he could no longer stand deceiving the poor woman, or the public or some other trashy reason which would sound great to the public, even though he was no doubt involved in the cover up in the first place. "Well, you know what they say about cover ups," he told his friend.

Kouki snorted, before reaching out for the new sake bottle and pouring another saucer. He knew the rule as well as Yadav did. The first one to come clean came out smelling the best, at least in the public's eyes. "Believe me, not an option this time," he said firmly.

"So Nighteye is bluffing." If it was that bad, then the Hero had to be bluffing.

"I can't take the chance," Kouki replied.

Sheeba sighed. "All right. I'll find some reason to have Beacon drop the case," he told his friend. The fact that Kouki would owe him for that went unsaid. "But if she finds another lawyer you are going to be back in this situation again."

"She won't," the Commissioner seemed certain.

Yadav raised one eyebrow, as he picked up the last yakitori and slid a chicken piece from the stick.

"She can't afford it," his friend told him.

Sheeba shook his head. He didn't deal with the run of the mill cases, but he'd done a few after he first graduated from law school. When it came to pursuing something they wanted, people were resourceful. And this mother was pursuing her child. She might not have the money but the story sounded exactly the type of thing the public would get behind. Crowdfunding was a big possibility. The initial sob story would go a long way to helping her get started, and once someone picked up on it…

Well, Kouki must have considered all of that, and it wouldn't be his problem, especially if he could find a good enough reason to have Beacon drop the case. Maybe a newly found conflict of interest? Those were always good and made Beacon look good for owning up to it. He'd have a look at the case file to see what could be found.

"You better be sure," Sheeba murmured.

"I have the resources of the Commission," Kouki told him with that cocky smile he used to have. "And support is wider than just the commission. She won't find the money."

Yadav sighed and shook his head. "It's not my problem," he said finally.

"No, it's mine," Kouki agreed. He didn't sound happy about it but he at least knew it.

Sheeba downed the last of his beer and ate the final piece of chicken. "You'll have to tell me the truth one day," he said.

"One day," Sozo agreed.

-ted-

First, I've decided which operational name I'm going to have for the company.

Izuku looked at his phone. Oh, which one?

Their company was called MIE which stood for Mei Izuku Enterprises but the people at JBQC had explained that while that would be the registered name of the company, it could trade as something else. Companies did it all the time. So their company would be MIE trading as whatever name Mei had decided on.

Mi Enterprises, came the response.

That way people will assume the name is a play on my name, but the trading name still mentions you.

It's a nice play on words, Izuku agreed. They had discussed things and had decided that there was a better chance of her being able to keep the company when she went to high school if it looked like she was the sole owner. Obviously, she'd tell them what was set up if asked but it was one of those things… if you weren't asked, you didn't have to tell.

\(◦'⌣'◦)/

↖(^▽^)↗ Izuku returned the text.

Oh, oh, oh!

I've almost got your resized vest finished.

He blinked at the message. That was almost too fast. The vest was a light vest. He wore it under his clothes and it simulated the effects of sunlight on his skin allowing him to make energy. It was really useful. Not all of Mei's babies were useful, 'cos some of them did explode but he could see how they would be useful in the future. Mei herself admitted that she didn't finish things to the same quality as she had made for his dad. It was better for her to keep making things and learning.

That's fast.

I admit I was working on a new one for you anyway, she replied.

He sighed. She wasn't meant to do that. Izuku made a note to send her some money out of the pocket money he got from Kurogiri.

I think you should focus on that grappling hook, he told her. He could foresee a great deal of uses for a good grappling hook on a retractable spool. He could see a great deal of use for most of her babies if they were developed right. Or that armor.

Not the armor, Mei replied immediately. Once I get into high school, I can start to use a lot of the special fabrics. I'll look into armor then when the material will be better.

That made sense. I look forward to your efforts, Izuku replied and he realised he really was looking forward to it.

Mei was going to… Well, he wasn't sure what she was going to do but it would be great. And he was going to be there with her.

And benefit from her abilities.

His dad would focus on that. He would focus on the fact that even though they'd only met that once, Mei was a friend.

Friends helped each other. And he liked that thought.

-ted-

Sir Nighteye isn't the only one with a vested interest in making sure Inko doesn't find the truth. The Commission does not need Hisashi Riji's wife mucking up their plans. Too bad Hisashi Riji might himself have something to say about that - just not yet. For the moment, the forces gathering against Inko are unopposed and it is one woman against the might of them all... But of course, we know how these tales go.

And Izuku is liking helping his friends and they, in turn, like helping him.

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out.

-ted-

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