26/03/2022

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You are the greatest!

The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 58

Being All Might's side kick meant no one looked at him in askance as he moved through the corridors of the Hero Public Safety Commission heading towards the Commissioner's office. It didn't mean he wasn't looked at though. People always gawked when high level heroes were at the Commission, it just meant that no one questioned why he was here. Sir Nighteye kept his gaze neutral. It was a long practiced habit and what everyone expected from him. Inside, he was seething.

This was meant to be dealt with. Sozo was meant to have made this issue go away, but now, after about a month of quiet, it was back. The Commissioner better have answers or else everything would blow up and there would be no good solution.

For anyone.

He was not going to take the fall. He already knew the Commission didn't want to take the fall. That damnable Detective couldn't take the fall, not without a lot of papers accidentally going missing and Mirai already knew All Might wouldn't allow that. And no one wanted the Number One Hero to take the fall on this. Toshinori did not realise how protected he was in that position.

No, Sir Nighteye corrected his wayward thoughts. All Might did know, he just didn't usually take advantage of that protection so blatantly.

"Ah, Sir Nigtheye," Sozo's Executive Assistant greeted him when she saw him approach. "The Commissioner is expecting you, so please, go right in,"

"Thank you," he said, nodding as he moved past her desk to the Commissioner's Office.

Like all Commissioner's Kouki Sozo had taken over Soukan Haruta's office and made it his own, while keeping with the expected grandeur such a position demanded.

Mirai was not impressed by the office. He never had been but it wasn't designed to impress him. It was designed to impress the plebs who did Kouki's bidding and the politicians who relied upon the Commission to keep Heroes in check.

"Commissioner," he greeted as he closed the door behind him. The office, like most top level beaurecrat's offices, was soundproofed, but only when the door was firmly closed. Sir Nighteye already knew they did not need the contents of this meeting leaking. Kouki knew it as well.

"Sir Nighteye, it's good to see you," the Commissioner returned his greeting, gesturing to one of the plush chairs in front of his desk.

Mirai took the offered chair. Some would say it made him take the supplicant's position but on this, they both knew that wasn't the case, and that was the important distinction. He waited for the Commissioner to initiate the conversation.

"So, what are you going to do about this woman?" Kouki asked eventually. He even managed to keep a straight face.

SIr Nigtheye smiled thinly at the Commissioner. "No," he replied firmly. "It is not what I am going to do. It is what we are going to do," he elaborated.

Sozo gave him a distinctly superior smile as he shook his head slightly. "No, no, no," he said gently, almost as if he was speaking to a child. Mirai felt vaguely insulted like that but recognised the tactic. The Commissioner thought he had a position of strength. He'd forgotten several key points. Politicians were like that. They liked to focus on those bits of information that made them look favourable, while dismissing or discrediting those that didn't.

The real world didn't think the same. Thankfully.

"The Commission simply backed your recommendation," Kouki told him. "This was your call, therefore your responsibility."

So that's the way this was going to be. "Then perhaps if the Commission had been more-" Mirai paused as if seeking the right word. "-competent at their duties, we wouldn't be here," he said with a slight smile.

Two could play the attacking game.

"This pre-operational decision was not made by the Commission."

"Yet the failure to secure All For One's body was the fault of the Commission."

Kouki frowned. "I don't see what that has to do with this," he responded stiffly.

Sir Nigtheye didn't bother to hide his head shake of disbelief. "Where exactly do you think she's getting the money from?" he asked pointedly.

"Surely not!" Sozo was quick to dismiss the suggestion.

Mirai just levelled him with a stare, expecting the Commissioner to run through the same information he had but there was no spark of agreement or even thought in Kouki's face. He signed internally. "Try to follow me on this," he began. "Inko Midoriya's work group found out that Hisashi Midoriya or Hisashi Riji as he was known was at the Toxic Chainsaw Incident. If Hisashi Riji was there, then there was a chance that Izuku Midoriya was connected to the incident. Somehow, she discovered that there was a mission to rescue Izuku and I have my suspicions about that. However, the information is protected by mission confidentiality and need to know."

"Yes, yes," Kouki nodded. He sounded frustrated. "I know all this."

"Now, given the sensitive nature of the mission, Inko was denied her Request for Information," Mirai continued, not bothering to skip ahead. The Commissioner may know it but the Commissioner obviously didn't understand the full importance of the information. "She was also given ample reason to realise that her request would always be denied. So she brought in Beacon, who you managed to persuade to drop the case. Then she tried with a parade of other firms. Kachiganai, Muda, Teikakaku, to name a few. A variety of strategies got them off the case. And a well worded letter or two to a variety of crowdfunding sites saw that her attempts there were… shall we say, not as well advertised as she might have hoped. Are you following me?"

It was perhaps unnecessary to ask that question but Mirai was annoyed. From the Commissioner's opening he knew what they wanted. He or All Might had to take the fall. But no, they were implicated as well. They bore some responsibility since they'd let the mission go ahead, so it wouldn't be All Might's agency that took the fall entirely.

Mirai was fast coming to the conclusion that none of them were going to get out of his easily. All For One… no matter how injured he had to be would want to drag this on for as long as he could. He would also be advertising their failures as widely as possible. All For One would not do it himself, of course. There would be agents acting on his behalf, and agents acting on their behalf and the whole tangled web behind them protecting All For One.

They would never see the man…

Sir Nighteye's thoughts paused for a moment as he literally froze at the realisation that he had acknowledged that it was All For One behind this. On some level he believed the man was in charge of the situation.

"Get on with it," Kouki snapped, which brought him out of his momentary reflection.

Mirai levelled his gaze at the Commissioner. "We made sure there was absolutely no way for her to fund the case. We also made sure that most of the larger, or more likely law firms were disinclined to take the case. And now, she has the money, and the backing of Reikokuna, a firm, I should not need to remind you would like nothing more than to see the Commission embarrassed."

At that, the Commissioner looked faintly sick. He understood the point. Reikokuna's operational statement was to support the victims of villainy. In practice what that meant was what they called the victims of the Commission. People who had lost loved ones, property, reputation, anything because a hero was doing their job. Of course Reikokuna didn't phrase it like that. They phrased it as if the hero was guilty of negligence and they had… unfortunately won enough cases to keep going. They weren't a large firm, but they were dedicated.

And as much as Sir Nighteye and the Commission didn't like them, they knew firms like Reikokuna had to exist. If they didn't a new one would simply form to fill the niche.

"She got a dispensation from her husband's will," the Commissioner dismissed the matter. "So she has some money now but it will run out soon enough."

Mirai read the real meaning there. So long as they stone walled long enough then Inko's case would never get to trial or any of those parts that were publicly declared.

He shook his head. "No." His reply was short and sharp. "She got money from Hisashi."

At that, the Commissioner shook his head in reply. "He did not have a head," Kouki said firmly. "There is not a healing quirk in the world that can fix that much damage. So while his body might be alive, he is not calling the shots." The Commissioner seemed convinced of that.

Sir Nighteye gave him a thin smile. "Let's imagine that's true, for a moment," he invited. "Inko will only be able to get money while Hisashi is officially missing. The Commission plans to sweep in on his estate when he's declared dead in absentia?"

Commissioner Sozo nodded.

"Then let me postulate," Mirai said with a smile. "One of the following will happen. One, Hisashi Riji will somehow be a paper identity. There will be no assets to his name, not even JBQC, of which he is still the majority shareholder."

"I find that unlikely," Kouki replied.

"It's one option, one I feel is quite likely but then, let's look at option two," he continued. "The Commission will move to claim Hisashi Riji's assets, and they will be there. All the millions and millions, possibly billions of them, except Hisashi Riji will also be there. Not dead. Not missing. Or maybe even in vegetative state you believe him to be in but I'm more willing to think he will be whole and present the whole thing as a misunderstanding on the Commission's behalf."

"That's not possible," Kouki said.

"Humour me," Mirai replied. "Either way, Inko Midoriya keeps getting funded."

Kouki gave him a superior smile. "No, it doesn't happen like that. If Hisashi Riji is shown to be alive, then it is a simple matter to link Hisashi Riji to Hisashi Midoriya. At which point Inko Midoriya's case becomes a civil matter, and not anything to do with the Commission. It might actually be a good result for us."

Sir Nighteye stared. He didn't know if to laugh or cry. He sighed. "That event will go one of two ways. Either there will be no link between Riji and Midoriya or there will be ironclad papers showing a divorce between Hisashi and Inko, with full custody of Izuku going to Hisashi."

"Which we will then be able to show that Inko had no case to start with."

"Reikokuna will then bring up the Commission's attempted kidnapping of Izuku."

"We did no such thing!" Kouki objected.

"Reikokuna will phrase it like that," Mirai said blandly. "In which case the only saving grace is that I then put off that mission," he added, but while others might have been pleased at that statement, he wasn't. "We are getting too far afield. The point is Inko's money is not going to dry up, and you will not be able to stonewall until the official time that Hisashi can be declared dead in absentia. No matter how close that seems."

"It's only a year and a half," the Commissioner said.

"That's too long. Reikokuna will have you before a judge every time you delay by so much as a day."

"There are accepted turn around times!" Sozo objected.

Mirai could tell he'd run the numbers and figured they could delay long enough to have Hisashi Riji declared dead properly, appropriate his estate and therefore cut off Inko's income. He shook his head. "That's on big requests. Reikokuna will point out that this is quite a modest request." He didn't have to explain further. There was, after all, really only one request.

The Commissioner looked like he might fight that statement for a moment before he sighed, which was acknowledgement enough of the point. "So why don't we just tell her?" He asked.

"We can't!" Sir Nighteye objected.

"No, no. I don't mean tell her the truth, I mean why don't we use what she believes?" Kouki clarified his statement.

He thought about that for a moment. It might actually be do-able if they were careful. "Will that impact your case to gain Hisashi Riji's assets?" He asked carefully.

The Commissioner smiled at him. "On the contrary," he said almost cheerfully. "Revealing Hisashi Riji to be an underling of unspecified rank of Toxic Chainsaw would help our case."

If that was the case, why hadn't the Commissioner suggested that originally?

"Would she believe it?"

Kouki didn't look pleased at the question. "It's not so much if she will believe it, as if someone would contradict it," he said, all previous joy gone with the gloomy consideration.

"Who?"

The Commissioner sighed. "Anyone related to your agency is a possibility," Kouki replied, holding up one hand to forestall questions. "I don't think it would be deliberate from your agency, but it's a possibility and it applies to certain Commission members as well. There's also the possibility that one of Toxic Chainsaw's real underlings would object."

"They are villains," Mirai pointed out. Would Inko even believe them? Would the world? Some would. Some were always looking for conspiracy theories but others would accept the Commission's word.

Kouki acknowledged the point. "Then there is JBQC themselves. They are very unlikely to admit they were run by a villain. The testimonials there-" he didn't have to finish. Sir Nighteye knew what that would be like.

While All For One had run JBQC as his main front company, it was, rather surprisingly, a legitimate business. And it hadn't collapsed with his disappearance. The company had, annoyingly, claimed from All Might's insurance for rebuilding expenses, though Mirai would admit they had been paid begrudgingly. However, given the cover story, they had to be paid. To the world they were a legitimate business, who just happened to get caught up in that fight. Unless something came to light, that belief would continue, making statements from JBQC about Hisashi legitimate in the eyes of the world.

This time, Sir Nighteye acknowledged the point.

The Commissioner sighed. "Why not just sign her up to a lot of confidentiality clauses and tell her the truth?" He asked, speculatively.

His usual reaction would be to deny that course of action but with almost everything else closing off as options Sir Nighteye forced himself to consider it. He pushed his glasses up. "I don't think she'd go for it," he said slowly. He didn't need to say that it was most likely Reikokuna who wouldn't go for it. "But assuming she did, what can be legally made confidential?" With the cover story there were certain things that were public knowledge. And there was no point in trying to hide them.

But they could tell Inko her husband was the target of that operation and they had delayed getting his son because of the risk to the total operation and…

He shook his head. There were too many variables and, it always came back to the fact that Izuku was a child. Declaring confidentiality around issues involving children was a legal nightmare, as many religious and other social groups, all over the world had found out in successive waves. It had started in the western world. It hadn't ended there. Even Japan had its share of scandals. With the advent of quirks the issues had changed from sexual exploitation to quirk exploitation even during the upheaval.

"Her son was nine," Mirai reminded the Commissioner. "But let's keep it in reserve. We might be able to get some utility out of a limited confidentiality agreement." If they could find a way to limit the fall out, then it might be possible to tell her why that hadn't gone after Izuku, and have that, or at least enough of it public so that Reikokuna couldn't challenge, while keeping the full truth under the confidentiality agreement.

"If she goes for it?" Kouki asked sourly.

"If she goes for it," Sir Nighteye agreed before he sighed. "I suppose I should go talk to her again."

"Let's send someone else. You might be too close to the issue," Sozo said.

"Don't send the woman you sent last time," Mirai advised.

Kouki looked at him questioningly.

Mirai simply returned the stare. Surely the Commissioner couldn't be unaware of that woman's… lack of ability?

He admitted he wasn't the most sensitive of men but she had been downright hostile to Inko. That attitude would feed Reikokuna's case.

Eventually the Commissioner sighed and nodded. "I'll send someone else," he agreed. "So, option one, tell her nothing. Option two, stick everything under a confidentiality agreement. Option three, put most of it under an agreement."

"That's about it," Mirai agreed, feeling tired. It was no comfort that Kouki looked just as tired.

"I hope she sees reason," the Commissioner murmured.

Sir Nighteye nodded, not even caring that his glasses slipped down his nose with the motion. He hoped the same but with All For One pulling the strings, he knew they were in for a hard case.

No matter the outcome, he'd better start damage control now. That might be the best outcome they could get.

-ted-

Oh what a tangled web the Commission is weaving. And Nighteye... They really, really need to practice their weaving because I think they will find they suck at it and the threads will get all tangled. Maybe AFO should offer lessons on how to lie and get away with it?

But Nighteye does have one thing right, Inko will continue to get funding and they are going to have to do something spectacular to get rid of that funding.

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

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!