13/12/2022

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 33 - Friends in High Places

"Why do they make the mid-year exams different?" Ochaco complained.

"Because UA is not a High School," Izuku observed.

"What do you mean, First?" Mei asked for them all.

He shrugged. "UA is not a High School," he said. "Oh we do some High School subjects, but UA is mostly an apprenticeship," he explained. "For you, Ochaco, UA is just a prep-school for you to get a position as a sidekick with some agency before you go out on your own. For Mei, it's just preparing her to work in research and development, usually at another company."

"First!" Mei objected.

"Most Support Students end up doing that," he pointed out. "You won't. You'll be in control of your own company but that's not the norm."

She nodded to acknowledge the truth of that statement.

"It's usually Management or General Studies Students who go to University," Izuku said. "But at least some of them go straight into industry," he noted. "So that's why all the mid-year exams are different. Or at least the practical component of them," he grinned, looking pointedly at the book in front of Ochaco.

"All right," she said, looking slightly peeved.

"Do you know what your practical exam is?" Hitoshi asked.

"Yeah," she said. "You?"

Hitoshi shook his head. "They aren't telling us," he told the group. "I think they are trying to work out how to make it seem as if it's not a heroics exam for losers," he added.

"You are not a loser!" Izuku snapped firmly.

"It's what most of the world thinks," Hitoshi countered.

"What do you mean?" Mei asked.

Izuku glared but Hitoshi shrugged. "Most of the world think that the UA General Studies Course is for those who failed to get into Heroics," he explained.

"But you didn't," Mei said, confused. She was eating her lunch absently but her goggles were down as she looked at something.

"It's what the world thinks."

"The world is wrong," Izuku said.

"You aren't a loser," Ochaco agreed.

"I can't help what others think," Hitoshi said.

Izuku sighed and looked at his friend. A number of things were becoming clear to him and he was… he wasn't sure what he could do about them. He just wished Hitoshi had brought this up earlier. "Is that why you took the work experience with the hero?" he asked. The Heroics and General Studies Course had a space in their curriculum for work experience. The Management Course did but only in later years and the Support Course just worked it when they could. Usually people got internships with Support Companies in their second or third year instead of work experience in their first.

Hitoshi didn't look pleased at the statement.

"Wait!" Ochaco shrieked. "Hitoshi did work experience?" She almost screamed.

Oh, that's why Hitoshi wasn't happy.

"Sorry?" Izuku said, giving his friend a look that projected his innocence.

Hitoshi glowered but he couldn't hold it. "I did work experience," he said. "But part of it was keeping it quiet," he added.

"Really sorry," Izuku opened his eyes wider on his innocent look..

"So does that mean you'll be joining the heroics course?" Ochaco asked. She was almost jumping up and down.

"I don't know," Hitoshi said. "But if I do, it's revolutionary, right?"

Ochaco fist pumped. "The only way!"

"Which class would he join?" Mei asked.

That brought an end to Ochaco's joy. "Oh," she said with a grimace. "You'll probably go into 1A," she groaned.

Izuku sniggered.

"What?" Mei demanded, sensing there was something there she didn't get.

"Then 1B would hate him," Izuku said. He'd met some of 1B. It was a linear relationship to hatred of 1A. He understood it. His father had taught him to understand hatred. Understand what drove it and what made it but as with most cases, it was disturbingly irrational. As far as Izuku could tell, some in 1B just hated 1A because they thought 1A was more special for some reason. He'd looked into it. Both 1A and 1B were balanced. UA put recommendation students in both classes to balance them and split those from the exam evenly. It wasn't as if 1A was meant to be elite. As far as Izuku could tell, the hatred stemmed from the perceived superiority of the numbering system and the fact that Tomura had attacked the USJ.

"Unless they shake up the classes going into second year," Mei murmured absently, already returning her attention to her work.

"That's possible," Ochaco admitted. "But that's not for another six months," she added. "And we have mid-year exams first!"

"So what is your mid-year exam?" Izuku asked. Ochaco hadn't told them earlier.

She looked disgusted. "I have to fight a hero," she told them.

That got Mei's attention again. "You what?" she demanded.

"We have to fight a hero," Ochaco said again. "In teams of two."

"Do you know who?"

She shook her head. "They haven't told us that, just what the exam is."

"Do you know who your partner is?"

"Why would they tell us anything useful like that?" Ochaco demanded.

Izuku chuckled, holding up one hand. "True, true," he agreed before he smiled. "I'm sure you'll be fine, no matter who you are paired with and up against."

She didn't look as confident as him. "What's your exam?" Ochaco asked instead.

"I think ours is some sort of compressed time marketing or investment simulation," Izuku answered.

"Huh?" The eloquent expression came from all three of his friends.

"I suppose they could give us a day trading exam but that's not realistic," he told them.

Hitoshi didn't look impressed with the answer.

Izuku grinned. Sometimes he loved winding them up. "They give us information about an event in the past and then we are presented options we can take. The simulation runs from there," he explained. "While we know what happened historically and no one can know exactly what will happen with a different choice, I'm told it's amazingly realistic."

"Oh, how?" Mei asked.

"The simulation choices and outcomes are based on what happened in other situations, and I think Principal Nezu designed the exam," Izuku added.

"He designed all the exams," Hitoshi told them.

Ochaco groaned. "They're never going to get better," she said as her head hit the table but almost the instant it was down, it popped back up. "But, Plus Ultra!" She said the school motto!

Izuku smiled. "We can do it!" He gave a small cheer!

His friends smiled. They'd get through this.

-ted-

"You've been down," Giran observed.

"You haven't contacted Dragon," came the response from Himiko.

"I haven't seen him," the broker answered honestly.

"I miss him and Mr Stainy is gone too."

He wasn't sure what he could say to that so instead went with something else. "I've got some jobs coming up that might interest you?" he instead offered. Giran figured it was a function of Himiko's relative youth that she sometimes gravitated to the places he liked to do business. Others didn't do that. But others were a bit more established.

"Will I get blood?" She asked but didn't sound that interested.

"You'll get blood," he replied. All For One had asked him to think about associates that might want to work with Tomura. Himiko was one who'd sprung to mind because of her relative youth and her… Well, young as she was, she didn't have regrets about her choice of career.

"And you'll be working with someone who knows Dragon. They don't have one of those," he added, gesturing to his throat to indicate her amulet. "But I do know that he talks to Dragon far more than I do."

She frowned at that. "More than you?"

"At least once a month. I'm lucky for once a year," he explained.

"Then I'm interested," Himiko replied, before pulling out a knife. She held up the blade, examining it before she did a few twirls with it.

He didn't use knives himself but he knew well enough to know that the twirls looked fancy without being difficult. He was also aware that Himiko could do the movements that looked deceptively simple but would slice your fingers off if you did them wrong. In her own way, she was dedicated.

"Then I'll do it," she said.

"I'll introduce you," he promised, thinking about who else might be good for Tomura to work with. Dabi was already in but he if could get Mr Compress then… That would give Tomura at least a start and that seemed to be what All For One wanted.

Inwardly Giran shrugged. The man came up with the oddest requests but he paid… so… they weren't really that bad. And it never hurt to be on the good side… or at least the neutral side of such a man.

-ted-

Commissioner Kouki Sozo frowned at the note that popped up on his desk. We are unable to claim Hisashi Riji's assets. That was it.

That made no sense. It was a long standing tradition that the Commission claimed the assets of high level villains they took down. They'd actually had to wait to claim Hisashi Riji's assets because the man was damnably smart and had integrated his villainy into the profile of a legitimate businessman. Therefore, they'd had to wait seven years, from the time of him being declared missing in the aftermath of the Tsu Incident to now.

He picked up the phone and dialed Poko Tatsuna. She was the Head of Reclamation. In theory, she ran the group that recycled debris and other materials from Hero fights, and that did keep them very busy. The junior staff anyway. In practice, claiming the assets of high level villains was their main role.

"The Taxation Office claim he's alive," Poko answered, not even waiting to hear what he was calling about.

"They what?" Kouki demanded.

"They claim he's alive," Tatsuna repeated.

"Are they just after a bigger cut?" Sometimes the Taxation Department wanted some of the assets. They had a formula for dividing it up.

"No, they were definite in that Hisashi Riji was still alive," Poko told him.

"I'll call them," Kouki told her, before hanging up. He rubbed at his temples before he flicked through his contacts for Motoo Sugawara. Motoo was the Tax Commissioner and while it would be unusual for her to know about specific cases, for someone like Hisashi Riji, she'd be aware of the particulars.

"Kouki," Motoo greeted him genially.

She either didn't expect his call or was great at acting. Unfortunately, to get to the position of Commissioner, Kouki knew you had to have some acting, or at least oration skills. He sighed under his breath, wondering how best to handle this if Motoo was going to be obtuse. Straight out was probably easiest and… well, if they could be honest with each other it would render him the fastest answers.

"Motoo," he returned her greeting. "This is, unfortunately, not a social call," he added.

"Oh?" Again, she sounded genuinely interested but unaware of the oncoming topic of conversation.

"Yes. It's been seven years since Hisashi Riji was declared missing," he told her.

"The Tsu Incident?" Motoo murmured, more for her own confirmation than for his.

"Indeed," he confirmed anyway. "His son and sole heir was declared missing at the same time," Kouki added.

"His son?" Sugawara seemed confused.

"Hisashi was a private man," Kouki explained.

At that, Motoo chuckled slightly. "Apparently," she agreed.

"Given that he is now legally dead, the Commission needs to claim his assets," Kouki told her.

"Now, you see," Motoo said in a tone that made Kouki brace, "that's the bit I don't get. Legally dead? I had lunch with Hisashi the other day."

Even as he froze at the sentence, his mind was working through the implications. The first was that Sugawara had known what he was calling about. The second was that she'd had lunch with Hisashi. "You had lunch with Hisashi?" he questioned gently.

"Last Tuesday," Motoo confirmed. "He admits that he was injured in the Tsu Incident. He uses a cane now, but Hisashi is definitely alive. He's even paid his taxes," she added brightly. Of course the Tax Commissioner would consider that important.

Kouki felt slightly sick. It couldn't be Hisashi. It had to be someone acting as him but… Would one of Hisashi's underlings, the one who had stepped up be so thorough as to pay his taxes? That seemed unlikely. He swallowed. "You do know that Hisashi was the focus of the Tsu Mission?"

At that Motoo laughed slightly. "I wish I could run my Commission the same way you seem to run yours," she told him.

"You aren't that naive," Kouki said flatly.

"Of course I'm not," Motoo answered seriously. "I am aware of your accusations against Hisashi Riji," she told him. "But I am unaware of any formal charges."

Kouki was tempted to just stare at his phone. He knew Motoo wasn't that unsophisticated. She couldn't be. She had to know when the Hero Public Safety Commission made an accusation they were not doing it because they suspected. They were doing it because they knew.

She seemed to understand his silence. "Kouki," she said tiredly. "If you want to make accusations against Hisashi Riji, I won't stop you, but don't try to claim he's dead when he's clearly not."

He swallowed. She did understand but she was going to take advantage of the situation. "Was it really Hisashi?" he asked instead.

"It was really Hisashi," Motoo replied immediately.

He sighed. It was obvious Motoo Suguwara was not going to shift her stance. It was time to pull political rank. "The HPSC will be declaring Hisashi Riji to have died in the Tsu Incident," he told her.

"The Taxation Department will be declaring that Hisashi Riji is alive and well," Motoo told him firmly. There was not an ounce of movement in her voice. "We'll also declare his son alive, on the basis that he informed us of his child care arrangements."

"His kidnapped son?" He questioned pointedly. If the Tax Department wanted to claim they had no proof of Hisashi's criminality, and to be fair, finding evidence that directly linked to Hisashi's other identity of All For One was difficult, then the kidnapping of his son was at least on record. In Japan. So she couldn't say it was only an incident that happened in some other countries. That occurred. And the number of crimes that could be attributed to All For One overseas was potentially an even more impressive list than the crimes they could attribute to him here.

Cases with children were odd. He wasn't associated with many and the world had become… somewhat tired of international child kidnapping cases. This wasn't that though.

Motoo sighed heavily. "Hisashi told me you would bring that up," she muttered.

Kouki didn't feel good at hearing it. He began to wonder how many people All For One had bought… not just in the Tax DepartmentI He felt cold. How many in the HPSC?

"What did he have to say about it?" He asked, already planning out the war on other government departments. The Taxation Department was obviously compromised… he had no idea about the Defence Department and he would be checking his own. He wasn't naive enough to believe that the HPSC would not be a target for AFO. Where else? Treasury and… would the man be interested in Social Services? It was a mega Department that covered Health, Pensions, and Social Security. He already knew industry was compromised.

"Neither the HPSC or the Tax Department has much to do with child custody but Social Services indicate that Hisashi Riji has sole custody of his son," she said.

"You checked?"

"Hisashi told me you'd be asking, so I thought it prudent to at least look up the records. Sukoshi was quite surprised."

"That's not possible. The mother was seeking information up until a year or so ago," Kouki said, even as he wrote a note to check with Sukoshi. Even if Hisashi wouldn't be claiming child support, things like that were recorded by the Social Services Department.

"Sukoshi tells me the paperwork is all in order."

He could practically hear the shrug in Sugawara's statement.

"Look into it," Motoo said before he could say something. "And let's not fight," she added.

"Oh, we won't fight," Kouki said. "I'll look into things," he added before she could take offense. They wouldn't fight. When the HPSC declared Hisashi Riji dead, there would be nothing the Taxation Department could do. Or, they'd have him declared a villain and with that his assets voided… to pay out the victims. It was always to pay out the victims. They just never reported the percentage that was paid out.

"Do that," Motoo told him in such a way as he knew she thought she knew what he was thinking.

Kouki shook his head as he hung up, before he leaned back, looking at the ceiling. He was going to need help.

He was going to need a lot of help to find out how deep All For One's corruption went.

But first he needed a drink.

-ted-

I suspect people forgot about the HPSC and their quest to get their hands on AFO's ill gotten gains... He hadn't and he is already ready to counter them. I figure in the MHA universe the HPSC is a big agency, but the Taxation Department - by whatever name it goes by in your country - is always an important department of government. It's the one bringing in the revenue. The others are all generally spending the money so... if you are government, which one do you like the best? The one that brings you cash, or the one that loses you cash? The HPSC might bring in some cash through license fees and if they get a cut of merchandising from heroes but the Tax Department gets cash from everyone. So in this case, it's the the two big agencies facing off against each other.

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

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