28/02/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 51 - The Real Decision Makers

Yagi looked confused for a moment, before his expression shifted into something rueful. That meant he did have something more to say.

"Here?" Mirai asked carefully, casting his eyes around the room.

They were in one of the secure meeting rooms of the Hero Public Safety Commission.

Nezu nodded. "Sozo never allows anyone to record his meetings," the Principal explained. "And he won't have the equipment turned back on here until he deals with his next meeting so it's safe."

At that Mirai felt a ghost of a smile pass over his features as he nodded. That made sense. Sozo was a reasonable leader, a very astute politician and a man of some vision but he had been appointed to maintain the status quo. He did not deal with unusual events well, and he'd want records of meetings. But at the same time, that political nature would mean he'd want the ability to deny he'd said exactly that. He wanted the ability to say he'd hinted towards something but had meant something else. It was the usual political control.

Toshinori recognised the fact as well and sighed. "What do you want to know?" he asked, with a touch of resignation in his tone.

Nezu fixed two beady eyes on the Number One Hero. "Can you fight Tomura Shigaraki?" he asked pointedly.

He might have asked with a knife from the way Toshinori shrank into himself. Mirai watched as his friend took several deep breaths before answering. "I hope so," he said finally. "It's a shock to know he is Nana's grandchild and-" He sighed heavily, shaking his head and when he looked up again, they saw the hard eyes of the Number One Hero. "With All For One having trained him, I imagine I will not see him as Nana's grandchild for long."

The statement was particularly ominous coming from All Might but Nezu simply nodded. "Keep the memory of what he could have been," the Principal said, "and we will bring down what he is."

Mirai nodded. "What of All For One's actual son?" he asked. It was a relief, in one way, to know the villain hadn't actually spawned twice, as he had believed but it didn't negate the issue.

At the question, Yagi sighed again. Nezu seemed to understand but the Principal turned to him instead. "Have you seen him?"

"I have, but-" Mirai took a deep breath as he thought. He was aware his vision had changed but he had not yet had time to come to terms with that. It had only been a few hours. He allowed himself to smile again. Of course things were different! But the important thing was that Toshinori was alive, so… he could deal with the differences. "The event where I saw the lad won't happen."

Nezu looked at him for a few moments before the rat nodded. He seemed to understand but thankfully didn't make it an issue.

"What was he like?" Yagi asked. "What did he look like?" he clarified his question.

Mirai thought back to his vision. "He's built like his father, but has his mother's height," he related the details. "Green hair and eyes with freckles. I saw him in the uniform of a middle school senior," he added, to truly confirm that his vision had changed. It felt weird to him to say it aloud because they all knew that All For One's son would be in High School this year.

"So you know anyone like that?" Nezu asked Toshinori.

Sir Nighteye frowned. What did the Principal mean? If Toshinori suspected he knew where All For One's son was, surely he'd have mentioned something!

He was vindicated when Yagi shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Nezu pressed, sounding all the world like he knew something.

Toshinori was silent for a few moments before he blew out a breath. "It's a stupid word association," he muttered.

"What do you mean?"

Yagi looked like he wanted to growl. "All For One called his son his 'Little Dragon,' and with the situation and everything that was happening I thought of one of the first years."

Mirai nodded. Yagi was right. There was no way All For One would let his son attend a hero school.

"Which first year?" Nezu prompted.

"I only thought about it because his friend called him a dragon," Toshinori grumbled, obviously wanting to put the situation behind him.

Nezu just gave him a look.

All Might sighed heavily. "Mitei Chui."

Nighteye had been willing to dismiss it, right up until he heard the name. Chui was one of the names All For One had used for his son. Chui wasn't exactly a common name so it wasn't an identifier by itself.

Nezu raised his snout. "Mitei Chui," he mumbled as he thought. "Windy Chui's son," he continued. "His friends do call him Dragon," he said, nodding. It was obvious that the Principal was thinking of a different example.

"That's why I said it was silly," Yagi said. "Just because his friends call him Dragon, does not make him All For One's son."

"No," Nezu agreed. "But it does stretch the bounds of coincidence when his friends also call him Izuku," he said softly.

"What do you mean?" Mirai demanded but he could tell Yagi wanted to know just as much as he did. It was obvious in the way he was half risen, as if he wanted to rush out and confront Izuku Midoriya now.

"Sit down. If Mitei Chui is Izuku Midoriya, and is his son, then there are a few things that must be considered before anything is done," Nezu said sharply.

"Such as?" Nighteye wanted to know.

"To the best of my knowledge, the child has not broken any rules," the rat pointed out.

"But-" Mirai objected.

Toshinori came to his rescue. "He may not have broken any rules but his father has and Izuku Midoriya is still, officially, a missing person," the Number One Hero reminded the Principal. The fact that Izuku was still a minor meant that they were obligated to look to his safety.

Nezu nodded at that. "I'll look into this but it has to be done quietly."

"Does it?" Nighteye asked. "We don't know what he's going to do now that his father is incarcerated."

"True," the Principal had to admit, "but if he's come to school then we know where he is," he pointed out happily. "And if we keep him under observation, we may be able to gain some valuable insights into All For One's operation," he elaborated.

Mirai gave the rat a flat look. "That's why you don't want to expel that student," he murmured.

"Of course," Nezu agreed. "Better those you know than those you don't know. And, in her case I do not believe she actually knows the truth," he explained, his tone relaying his disappointment in the Commissioner's course of action..

"We will need to investigate quickly, but quietly," Toshinori said. "And if he is Izuku Midoriya then…" he also shook his head. "As you say, Principal, he hasn't done anything."

"That we know of," Mirai felt obligated to point out. "I don't think he has," he added quickly before Yagi could glare at him. "Or if he has, it was at his father's behest and not that bad, but I don't believe Izuku Midoriya is a simple case."

At that All Might nodded his, rather reluctant, agreement.

"It's actually quite a cunning disguise if it is true," Nezu said with a note of admiration in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Mirai demanded. He was trying to think of everything he knew of Windy Chui. The name seemed vaguely familiar but that could simply be because it was Chui. The Principal obviously knew more.

"Windy Chui works for a subsidiary of JBQC and has a husband who was injured at Tsu," Nezu gave the bare facts and waited for him to connect the dots.

"It should have been an obvious connection to All For One," Nighteye said.

"No," Nezu rejected his assessment. "It's a good disguise because of the history. There's enough similarities in their two histories for Izuku Midoriya to pass as Mitei Chui without extensive coaching or acting."

"Ah," Mirai nodded. That made sense.

Yagi looked to be in pain as he closed his eyes. "Father injured at Tsu," he said. "He told me that," he informed them.

Nezu nodded. "He doesn't have a particularly close relationship with his mother because Windy will have been at work, but if he is All For One's son, then the reality is because he was kidnapped. He has a privileged upbringing," the Principal added.

"It makes sense," Mirai agreed. "With Windy working for a subsidiary of JBQC she'd have to know and have interacted with Hisashi Riji.

"She may not know," Nezu said.

"How could she not?"

"We haven't had a reason to contact Mitei's mother," the Principal indicated. "The paperwork is all signed and in order and he's not a bad student so-" the rat shrugged.

"Do you-" Yagi interrupted but then shook his head to indicate that he wasn't going to continue the question.

"Do you?" Nezu prompted, not accepting Toshinori's reticence.

"He called his son a Dragon and there is a figure coming out in the underworld now named Dragon. Could they be linked?"

Mirai frowned at the question. "Izuku is sixteen years old. There is no way the underworld would listen to him," he pointed out, though the name and the emergence of Dragon was interesting.

All Might gave him a look that said he wanted to believe him but he had doubts. "What about the scales you've been finding?" he asked. Every time they had encountered All For One in the past, or what they suspected to be his work, they found a small, brilliantly green scale.

"They are connected," Nezu interrupted before he sighed. "The girl I'm going to expel has one and it was that token which the villain at the camp recognised," he explained.

"Usually I'd say that Izuku is All For One's son, so he's obviously a villain," Mirai said, his tone somewhat rueful. "But he is only sixteen," he reminded them, stressing the age. "Dragon is meant to be some, almost kingpin of the underworld, one step below All For One. There is no way the underworld would believe that of a sixteen year old, no matter who is backing him."

"What if they don't know?" Nezu asked.

"What do you mean?"

The rat leaned back in his chair. "Everything I've ever heard of Dragon indicates he's a mysterious figure. No one knows exactly what he's after, just that he has power," the Principal said. "It is possible the Dragon the underworld knows is simply a creation of All For One? Something he's done to help his son when he comes of age?"

The Number One Hero sighed heavily as he thought on that. "It could be," he said slowly. "He was well enough to fight but-" Yagi nodded to himself. "I took out most of his support network before I first fought him, so now I'd say he was looking to replace that network with his son and Tomura at the core. Establishing a presence in the underworld through a force no one sees but everyone knows about would fast track his son to a position of power."

The three of them thought about that for a few minutes. It didn't make Izuku a villain yet, but it certainly indicated where he was headed.

"He might not become a villain," All Might said hopefully.

"If he does, we will stop him," Nezu replied. He did not need UA known as a school that educated villains. With the rest of their public relations problems that would just be another straw they didn't need.

"If he does, we will need someone to stop him," Mirai reminded them both.

At that, Yagi sighed heavily. "I-" he paused, obviously gathering himself. "It can't be me," he said finally.

"You can hold your form," Nighteye pointed out but he was somewhat thankful that his friend was stepping back on this. He didn't want to have changed one vision only for the son to kill him.

"I can," Toshinori agreed. "But if his son does become a villain then…" He shook his head regretfully. "He will have a lot of reasons to hate me," he continued matter of factly.

That was true.

"Is he likely to become a villain?" Nezu asked before Mirai could think further. "His father may have set up the Dragon persona, but he does not have to step into it."

Mirai didn't know what to say. Yesterday he'd have said it was inevitable. Today, with the reality of his changed vision, changed again from what he had seen, he wasn't sure. "With his father's influence on him, he would have a tendency," he said instead.

Nezu accepted the statement with a nod. "He's not UA's traitor," he said confidently. "We have checked," the Principal added before he could be challenged. "Mitei Chui was exactly where he was meant to be during the times we've identified the traitor was active."

"He could still be a traitor," Mirai indicated.

Nezu acknowledged his statement with a nod.

"I don't think so," Toshinori said softly, as if he was recalling something. "He could become one but I don't think he is yet."

Both Nezu and Mirai gave him a look that demanded explanation. "Something he said," Yagi explained with a grimace. "He talked about his son, about giving him a choice."

"But a choice about what?" Nezu asked.

All Might shook his head to indicate he didn't know.

"Even if it was about his future, after last night-" Mirai shrugged. After last night, it would take a man as good as Toshinori to walk away.

"Maybe we can get to him in time," Yagi said but he didn't sound hopeful.

"I believe while he is just attending UA, we should take the opportunity to watch and learn," Nezu mused. "If Mitei is going to turn villain, he'll do something today or in the next few days, so we have that much time to make observations. And if he doesn't turn villain then we can use the time to determine the best way of approaching him."

"Even with his expelled friend?" Mirai asked.

The Principal had the good taste not to just dismiss his question. "I'll delay that as much as I can but Sozo wants a distraction so I'm only going to get a day or so," he said, which was as good as admitting it was a potential threat.

Yagi sighed. "If he does go villain then… We are going to need a plan to deal with him," he said sadly.

"Yes, but today is not the day to discuss it," the Principal was firm. "Given what we know now, we need to move and start observations. Just in case something does happen today," he explained.

Toshinori nodded. Mirai could tell he wanted to rush out and … well not confront Izuku but rescue the boy but he was wise enough to know that the boy didn't necessarily want to be rescued. And… Having All Might perform such a rescue might not be the best thing. If the boy somehow, impossibly, was not already set on the path to villainy, then they were best encouraging that, and forcing him to interact with All Might would not provide the right signal. It would have to be someone else but thankfully there were many other heroes who could be used. The boy's homeroom teacher was probably someone he trusted, at least a little… and he was getting ahead of himself.

"I'd like to see his file," Mirai told Nezu.

"I would too," the rat replied.

That got a smile from him. "Exchange?" he offered.

The Principal nodded. "We have a window of opportunity here," he said. "But we will have to be careful in how we climb through to take it."

"We don't want to shatter the glass," Toshinori elaborated on Nezu's analogy.

Mirai gave them both a look. "I just hope the glass isn't already shattered," he said. That seemed more realistic.

"We can hope," Toshinori said. "We are just going to have to hope," he repeated.

Sir Nighteye didn't really like statements like that but with the reality of a changed future… Maybe he could hope.

Maybe he could.

-ted-

Next chapter is back to Izuku but I think you can see why this one had to happen... They know...

But do they really know enough?

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn 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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