Chapter 230 - Mastermind
Shirai sighed, rubbing his painful eyes.
Like father like son.
He'd barely gotten out of a heated discussion with the financial minister.
He was starting to wonder what kind of things Enji had done to have that many high officials indebted to him.
Most of them were barely trying to convince him : they were in favor of Shoto Todoroki staying in prison – a lifetime was the minimum for someone who tried to break into Tartarus – and called him only to be 'cleaned' of whatever debt they had toward Enji.
"You're in no position to get any deal", Shirai said
The only position he was allowed to have was bending forward while they washed him with a hose.
A truly humbling experience, albeit slightly humiliating.
"One year"
"One year ?"
"That's the amount of time I'll be working for you"
Shirai's eyebrows shot up, though his gaze was still dull.
"For one year I will do anything necessary to ensure our country's security and well-being. I will pit whichever country you want to be pitted against each other, I will start whatever civil war you want me to, and I will murder whoever President needs to be murdered. Say it and I'll do it"
Shirai's pale eyes were two slits.
He wondered what was worrying the kid most for him to make such an offer: was it the fact that his brain would explode if he merely flared his Quirk, or was Jin Woo the cause of it ?
"And in exchange ?"
"In exchange, you'll absolute me"
A smile quirked Shirai's lip : he raised his hand to hide it, but a muffled laugh burst abruptly from his lips.
Shirai laughed out loud, eyes brimming with joy.
Shoto stayed unruffled.
"You-"
New laugh. Shirai wiped the corner of his eyes with his finger.
"You looked so serious that for a second, I nearly believed you"
"I am serious"
Shirai scoffed.
"You're a fucking liar, that's the only thing you are"
He made a gesture and the soldiers pulled the kid to his feet.
"You're too volatile : you won't ever work for me or anyone else. If I had you under me, I'd be more worried about you turning against us rather than what you could achieve"
Shirai's eyes grew hard.
"Now get the fuck out of here"
*
The new coming of All Might was the one who'd saved his son's life.
How ironic.
"How did the meeting with the general go ?", asked Bakugo, hopeful
He still remembered when his son had pushed him out of bounds in Yuei's first-year Championship. It felt like it'd been ages since then.
"Not as well as I could've hoped"
Bakugo deflated and scowled, arms crossed.
"There must be something we can do" he insisted. "I know he shouldn't have gone to Tartarus but come on… Life imprisonment is too much "
Despite being the new Peace Symbol, he was only a kid.
He didn't grasp the magnitude of Shoto's actions.
Enji knew that what Shoto had done had been utter foolishness, but he still endorsed it.
Katsuki believed Shoto had been right – he'd done it for a friend and mentor. He'd said himself that he had no intention of getting Hawks out. Of course everyone was exaggerating.
"Also", said a kid after a brief hesitation. "He told me to tell you that he was alright and that you shouldn't worry about him"
Enji felt a pang in his heart and smothered it down.
He couldn't afford to let himself be drowned by his emotions ; he'd think about it tonight when he'd be in his bed, unable to sleep for hours, worrying about the well-being of his son until he was forced to take sleeping pills.
Maybe Shoto would've told him what he had planned to do if Enji hadn't been such a deadbeat.
"Did you give it to him ?"
The kid nodded.
"Well done"
Enji patted him on the shoulder, and the kid seemed to revel in the praise.
Even though Enji had taken him in as a trainee, they had been able to get to know each other well.
He'd seen him from time to time and had given him a few pointers here and there but that was the extent of their exchanges.
Seeing the length he'd gone to for Shoto, Enji regretted not getting to know him better when they had the opportunity to.
"Thank you for being such a good friend to my son"
Katsuki shrugged.
"He would've done the same thing for me"
Enji didn't answer.
Would he ?
Shoto's mind was a nebulous one.
Had Katsuki's safety contradicted his son's projects, Enji wasn't sure he would've saved him.
The kid shifted (SYNO) on his feet. Enji went back to his seat, signaling that their discussion was over.
"Also..."
Enji's hand rested atop a closed folder.
"Yes ?"
"What's up with Atami ?"
Enji's gaze was so intense that Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek and looked away.
When All Might had forgo the goofy persona, he used to be like Endeavor : gaze sharp, presence commanding, exuding so much power you just knew you were not even close to the dirt under their boots.
"I told you not to read it"
"I know" A pause. "Sorry"
Enji brushed it away.
He'd accounted that the kid – or anyone else - may read what was written inside.
"So ?", he insisted. "What's in Atami ?"
Atami was a seaside town a couple of hundred miles under Tokyo. It was lively in the summer but dead in the winter. They also had a harbour.
"Nothing that you should bother with"
The kid frowned and then made an obvious effort to school his features.
"I know you don't trust me but-"
"That had nothing to do with trust", cut him Enji. "If Shoto trusts you, then I trust you"
It smoothed the folds between Katsuki's brows.
"Truth is, I can't let you get more involved than you already are. It would be… detrimental to your future"
Detrimental was such an euphemism.
"There must be something I can do", insisted Katsuki. "Let me help-"
"Thank you", cut him off Enji. "I appreciate everything you've done until now, but I can't let you get more involved"
Enji couldn't keep on asking people to pick a side.
Katsuki was far too young to understand the true extent of the power All Might had bestowed upon him : siding with criminals would jeopardize not only his career but his whole life.
"But-"
"I am certain that Shoto greatly appreciates everything you've done for him"
The kid looked conflicted, yet under Enji's unwavering gaze, he couldn't help but back away.
"… alright", he muttered.
They'd interrogate him – they'd certainly bring Tsukauchi – and the consequences on his life would far outweigh the benefits.
By then, Enji wouldn't be able to protect him – or anyone else, for that matter.
"Thank you", insisted Enji
The kid took the cue and left.
He stopped at the door.
"If there's anything I can do to help..."
Enji's expression softened.
"If I need anything, I'll call you first. Thank you very much"
As soon as he was out, Enji went back to work.
He had to consider his assets carefully : he would need to move them quickly yet without alerting anyone who might be looking into it.
He had to deplete the accounts under his name and transfer most of it under Rei's name. He would have to keep a couple of millions to keep face, even though it was tantamount to throwing them in the trash.
Most of his landholdings in Japan would also go to Rei.
He wrote down a few buildings in a hot neighborhood under Natsuo's and Fuyumi's names.
And The Endeavor Building…
Enji tapped on the paper with his pen, hesitating.
If he kept it under his name, it was as good as saying goodbye to it.
Yet giving the ownership to his wife or his eldest children would arouse suspicions he couldn't afford to arouse.
Still, the building represented close to twenty-five years of his life.
Among everything he owned, it held the most value for him.
He did not put it under Rei's or the children's names despite how heartbreaking losing it would be.
He spent the morning putting his finances in order.
This afternoon he'd have to pay the notary a visit in order to amend his will.
Enji took a break around one. He ordered food and sat down to watch TV in the break room.
It was a well-furnished place with enough sofas for half of his ex-employees to be comfortably there at the same time.
It was funny that in twenty-five years it was the first time he actually took a break there.
He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until he found a news one.
His eyes caught onto the red words written against a white band.
Enji smiled wickedly, bringing a cup of coffee to his lips.
This was the news he'd been waiting for.
Splattered in bold letters under the babbling anchorwoman's face were:
'Flash news : Martial law has been lifted'
*
A/N : Enji truly is a rude guy and it shows here (even though he kind of likes Katsuki)
Also yeah, chapters may be a bit delayed this week because I'm busy correcting a 5,000 words monster chapter.
You'll definitely get which one I'm talking about when you get to Part 3, there definitely won't ever be anything quite... peculiar like it.
If you want to support us on our last run, check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG
And as always, see you in the next update everyone.