30/05/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 74 - Waiting For Winter

"Are you sure?" Commissioner Motoo Sugawara asked on her phone. It was her personal phone, not her work one.

"Positive," Watanabe, one of the Principal Lawyers of Hawein, Mori and Nishimura, replied firmly.

"All right," she agreed. "I just don't want to fail Hisashi. He's such a good friend," she said.

"You won't be failing him," Watanabe reassured her. "He would not want the Commission brought into disrepute."

Motoo sighed. She didn't want the Commission brought into disrepute either but she also knew that without the Taxation Department standing with them, it was unlikely that Hawein, Mori and Nishimura could stand against the might of the Hero Public Safety Commission alone. They were not a large law firm. They were good at what they did, but they were not a large firm. "I do not wish you to be in trouble," she said, hoping that Watanabe understood her unspoken worry.

The lawyer was silent for a few moments before he replied. "Do not concern yourself Commissioner. Hawein, Mori and Nishimura have no intention of going against any legal orders from the HPSC," Watanabe told her.

"But-" She couldn't say the rest of the sentence. Even though the Taxation Department had declared Hisashi Riji to be alive and well, not missing, not dead in absentia the HPSC had somehow brought the other Departments and Commissions on board, and the government. While she knew Hisashi was alive, and knew that others knew she couldn't be the sole hold out. Not if she wanted to keep her position.

"Hawein, Mori and Nishimura will comply with every legal order," Watanabe repeated.

Of course they would. They had to. "Even if it leaves Hisashi penniless?" Motoo forced herself to ask.

"Even if it leaves Hisashi penniless. He is no longer a client of ours."

At that Motoo almost gasped before her mind joined the dots. She blinked and then shook her head. "Won't they just connect him to the villain All Might brought in?"

Watanabe actually chuckled. "They can, but it will hardly matter. I think they will have a very hard time proving who that villain is," he informed her.

That was somewhat comforting but the HPSC could link that villain's DNA to the sample that would have been provided when Hisashi was declared missing. "What about his missing person case?" Motoo asked. That is what had led to this.

"I believe they will find there has been a mix up with the samples. And that no sample will test as the same identity," Watanabe said firmly.

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Ah, a man with so many quirks, such as that villain, must have so many genetic signatures."

Motoo blinked and thought about that. It kind of made sense. But… Tartarus now had that villain's genetic profile and was no doubt sending that out to Hero and Police Department's around the world to find out everything he was guilty of. But if what Watanabe was suggesting was true, then they could potentially link him to so many events that it would not have been possible for him to have committed all those crimes.

"It is that variable?"

"I am led to believe it is," Watanabe confirmed. "And if they make unfortunate connections, there are answers. Besides, Shunin has already told me that he can have a case together in less than a day."

It took Motoo a moment to remember who Shunin was. Then she recalled he was the Principal Lawyer of Reikokuna and they just loved taking cases against heroes and especially the Commission. It wasn't charity. Shunin didn't work cheap and he was very much a driven man. No one was entirely sure why he had such a grudge against the HPSC and Heroes in general but Motoo had heard that it was because his family had been caught in a hero attack. Except there was not even a whisper of truth in that rumour and Shunin simply said that he enjoyed making sure people, all people were held to account.

"He's got the paperwork done already?" She asked. Motoo should have realised that a firm like Hawein, Mori and Nishimura would have had Reikokuna on side. Sozo would get the message immediately if he pushed too far.

"I do not know," Watanabe said. Even if he did, he wasn't going to tell her, Motoo knew.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I will direct the Department to comply."

"Good. There is no point in fighting battles Hisashi has already won," the lawyer told her.

It was a frustratingly positive thing for him to say. Motoo wanted to ask more but she also knew it was pointless. The information would come out eventually. "I'm glad to hear it," Motoo smiled at her phone, even though Watanabe wouldn't see it.

"I will let you know if something new arises," Watanabe said and Motoo recognised that the Lawyer was heading off.

"Thank you," she replied before hanging up. She put her phone on her desk and sat for a few moments in silence. The level of support Sozo had was surprising, though she expected at least some of that was because the Commissioner had tied Hisashi to the villain All Might had fought. Watanabe and Hawein, Mori and Nishimura would no doubt be working to muddy the waters and once that happened, Sozo's support would wane. Especially when he didn't get his hands on Hisashi's assets. Those who supported him were probably equally as greedy and when there was no payoff… That should be enough to dissolve their alliances.

Meanwhile, Hisashi would remember his friends.

He always had before and Motoo saw no reason for him to forget them now. All she had to do was wait. Reward would come.

-ted-

Izuku sat in the warehouse. The other villains were there too but they weren't talking to him. It wasn't that they wouldn't chat with him, it was more at the moment they had nothing to say. He was focused on the book in front of him. It was a management text. He'd had Kurogiri look at his apartment to get him some more clothes and some books. The misty man had reported that his apartment had been raided. The heroes had taken everything.

It wasn't unexpected but it was a bit annoying. Instead they'd just made a midnight run on a department store, stealing the supplies they needed. Tomura's crew had needed clothes as well since they knew it was still too soon to leave. And they'd needed food and drink. It had been a simple enough thing to disable the alarms and get what they needed. Izuku had picked up a few books and games. Butterfly had been rather derisive at that, but she had later admitted that the games were useful.

Mr Compress would not let them touch his playing cards but so the games did help them fill in the time.

Izuku was reading up on management. His UA teacher in the Management Course had always made it about heroes but management was about much more than that. He was currently focused on the chapters that dealt with people, rather than business. He really needed to know how to manage the crew. He'd been lucky so far. He couldn't rely on luck forever.

He had to find some way to bring them to his side. Except… He really didn't have much of a plan and anything he thought of was simply a first step. They had promised him one mission but all the missions he could think of lead into others and- He couldn't do that. Not until he knew they were with him. He couldn't start planning for the long term.

Izuku looked up as a shadow fell across his light. Himiko stood there, looking down at him. "Izu," she said softly. Her yellow eyes were concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

He frowned at her. "Nothing is wrong," he said instantly. Nothing was wrong, nothing he could admit was wrong, was wrong. It wasn't like the very first action he'd taken had destroyed his father's long term plans! But he couldn't admit that.

She wasn't convinced. He could tell by the way her eyes clouded. "There is," Himiko insisted and she slipped into a chair beside him.

He sighed and looked around at the others. Butterfly appeared to be asleep in a pallet they'd found. Kurogiri was currently with the Doctor arranging some more supplies. Mr Compress was doing something with cards while Dabi and Twice were playing one of the games he'd gotten. Whisper was… he wasn't sure where she was but he knew she'd be around. If he kept this quiet, they probably wouldn't hear and… He glanced at his book. One of the things it said was that if he wanted people to trust him, wanted people to follow him, then he couldn't be afraid of being honest. Maybe he should be honest now.

He sighed again. "I didn't really mean to kill Tomura," he told her softly. "I mean, I meant it at the time," he reassured Himiko. Izuku didn't need her thinking he was weak. "But it wasn't the best action," he admitted.

Himiko's expression softened slightly. "Oh Izu-" she whispered. "You are going to have to kill others," she announced clearly.

He closed his eyes. Even without having a firm plan he knew she was right. "I know," he agreed before he snorted softly and shook his head. "I know but, I don't really know how," Izuku admitted, watching the villains from the corner of his eye. Actually, he shouldn't call them that. They weren't villains. They were going to be his comrades… He needed to think of a different word to describe them, though he didn't really like to call them his crew. Comrade was a bit… all his historical studies made him think of it as a communist word. They could be his gang or his squad he supposed… and that was a distraction! They didn't appear to be listening. If they were, at least they had the good taste to pretend they weren't.

Himiko looked surprised at his answer for a moment before a slow smile spread across her features. She actually appeared happy about something. "Want me to teach you?" she offered with a bubbly chirp.

His eyes snapped to hers and Izuku felt himself frown. "How?" How did you teach someone that? How- He couldn't even ask the right questions!

She gave a chuckle and Izuku watched as she shook her head a little bit. No doubt she knew he was thinking all of that. There was one thing Izuku knew about his friend was that she was experienced. Himiko had always been that way. Or at least, she'd seemed that way. Even when they were younger- He'd never thought of it like this but he knew it was true. When Himiko learned something, she learned everything about the topic. So in villainy… she'd have learned to kill, and have mastered it, or at least been on her way to mastering it. She could teach him and… He'd much prefer her teaching than one of the others…

Plus… they could probably tell he wasn't experienced in that way, so learning would allow him to show them he wasn't just going to stand behind them and use their abilities. He'd be standing beside them, leading the charge.

"It's easy," Himiko announced. "You find someone you know you don't like, and you do it."

Someone he didn't like. Izuku frowned as he thought about that. There were the hero students and All Might and… Toxic Chainsaw and the entire system and… "Someone I don't like?" he murmured the words rhetorically. "I think I will have to work up to the people who spring to mind," he added.

"Oh?" Himiko said and it was obvious she wanted to know who.

He gave her an ironic smile. "Toxic Chainsaw and All Might," he admitted.

Immediately Himiko nodded but she was grinning. "Yeah, you are going to have to work your way up to them," she agreed. While she was obviously amused, she wasn't mocking him. She leaned forward and put her chin on one hand. "How about someone who meant to hurt you?"

Izuku copied her posture, pushing a fist into his cheek as he thought. No one had really meant to hurt him except… Wait… the three who'd broken his rib. They had meant to hurt him but was that enough to kill them? And… It had been years since he'd thought of them. Kenta Abe, Zakuro Kitagawa and Atsushi Ueno. He remembered their names and he stopped before he smiled. Could he remember their quirks? Kenta had a … shadow quirk, he recalled. Zakuro had a- wait, he had an interesting quirk! He could change the way people perceived others. Izuku remembered now. He'd really, really wanted to find out if it was an actual change or just perception. And Atsushi had a quirk that meant he could-

Izuku felt his thoughts come to a grinding, sudden halt.

Atsushi had a quirk that allowed him to put anything into a pocket.

"Izu?" Himiko prompted.

"Give me a sec," he said, closing his eyes as he thought. Atsushi's quirk was like Yakuni's. He shook his head. He was being naive. Atsushi's quirk was Yakuni's. That made far more sense. He took a deep breath as he continued thinking. After his rib had been broken his father had been upset and… Izuku didn't know exactly what he'd done but it was obvious his father had done something. The fact that Yakuni and he had a copy of Atsushi's quirk told him that.

But then given that those three had broken his rib, it wasn't surprising. And… This was probably something his Father would have told him after he made his choice because it was obvious his dad had used All For One on his behalf in the aftermath of that incident. He wondered what happened to Kenta and Zakuro's quirks? He'd have to ask the Doctor.

Mentally Izuku nodded to himself, and filed the questions for later. "I just thought of some but Dad already dealt with them," he told Himiko as he opened his eyes.

"No one else?" she prompted.

Izuku frowned… Wait! There was someone else who had been involved. Not with breaking his rib but with- The way Izuku shifted told Himiko he'd thought of someone. Izuku raked through his memory. He hadn't thought about this in years but he could remember he had been with his father, and they were talking to Giran. The Broker had information for them on how All Might had found his Dad and…

Dad had said he'd make inquiries to ensure she was the cause and maybe he had and she wasn't… But maybe he had and she was but they'd never had time to visit his school again. He'd have to get Kurogiri to confirm if the Principal was responsible… He might be going down the path the world would call villainous, but he wasn't a mindless killer. But if she was responsible…

"I think I have someone," Izuku said.

"Think?" Himiko asked dubiously. He could understand her doubt. There was no point in doing this if he then pulled out at the last second or got cold feet.

"I don't want to make a mistake with selection, so I have to check that she did do something," he explained.

At that Himiko relaxed and nodded. "So she hurt you?"

Izuku shook his head. "She hurt Dad," he explained from between clenched teeth. If Kurogiri told him she wasn't responsible, then the misty man better have the name of the person who was! He could feel the anger, and fear he'd felt at that time coming back. He didn't like it.

"Heh," Himiko laughed. "I'm kinda jealous," she announced. "You have such a good relationship with your dad, and if mine-" she didn't finish the sentence.

"There's nothing wrong with you," Izuku said firmly. It almost sounded like he said the words from rote but it wasn't that. He could put the dots together. Her father had been one of the people who thought there was something wrong, simply because Himiko enjoyed using her quirk, and therefore liked the blood required to use it! If she didn't then that would make her quirk dysfunctional! Why didn't anyone think of it like that? She required blood to use her quirk, therefore it was a good thing that she was at least neutral to the taste!

Himiko smiled at him with the statement. "What do you have to do to check?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I'm pretty sure Kurogiri will know if she was responsible," he said.

"Then let's go!" Himiko exclaimed, getting up from the table.

"What? Just like that?" Izuku frowned. It seemed too easy. Didn't he have to prepare or something?

She gave him a grin and bent over so that her face was level with his. "Just, like, that!" Himiko said and Izuku could see the way her tongue rolled in her mouth as she formed each word. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness.

It was kind of funny and he chuckled, shaking his head as he rose. "I bow to the Master," he announced. He shouldn't be surprised at this. After all, she did have experience and he'd be a fool not to learn from that experience.

He might be many things but a fool was not one of them.

-ted-

When AFO thought that Himiko would be useful for Izuku, I don't think he thought it would be like this. But he would approve. He's been gentle with his son, and anyone who can help ease Izuku's transition into villainy is someone AFO will approve of. As for the Tax Commissioner versus the HPSC... we'll see the long game play out there, in due course.

And you all remember who Izuku is checking on, don't you? It's been a long time coming.

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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