52

 Chapter 52: Chapter #51 | Question The Maze

Notes:

This chapter is basically one long conversation. But! Important world building with a few twists for those keen enough to spot them! Pacing is a bit of a worry as these next couple chapters will effectively be conversations but there are things we need to get out of the way before the Sports Festival can begin!

For those of you that have been asking I'll include it here.

Last chapter we had:

-Midoriya and Shimura having a conversation.

-How Uraraka and Setsuna were doing

-Midoriya waking up

Enjoy everyone!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Midoriya stared at the two sitting at the side of his hospital bed with no outward trepidation. Instead, it seemed to the two men as if he had no opinions whatsoever regarding the coming questions. The brief emotion he had shown had withdrawn into a seemingly calm, apathetic facade.

"Before I begin, Midoriya, I'm well aware that events like these can be traumatic affairs, and normally, if for any reason you would need to stop, you would be given time to collect yourself. I can't offer you that convenience this time around. Technically, I shouldn't even be having this conversation with you right now."

"How high up did these orders come from?" One simple question had Naomasa cringing minutely.

"Far above my pay grade, even if I didn't have to deal with the SIT because of you." Midoriya clicked his tongue.

"It's hardly my fault that they dragged you back into their nonsense. You're too good at your job to be wasting away in the backrooms of a small-time police precinct. "

"You want to explain why the Superintendent General gave me, a detective from a small precinct, as you put it, direct orders to be the one to question you?" Midoriya stiffened. "You know what, no. We're not rehashing this argument right now, Midoriya. I left the SIT and SAT because I was done after that incident. I didn't want to be involved anymore with the upper echelon."

"Oh, yeah, and you were so happy working cases that should have been given to detectives almost two decades your junior."

Naomasa twitched, his lips curling back. "Yes, Midoriya, I was. I'm not in my twenties. I have a wife and a daughter that I need to take care of, not drawing targets on my back for supervillains!" Naomasa straightened his back, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. We aren't doing this. We need to talk about the USJ."

"Yeah, well, start your recorder, because that incident didn't kill All for One, and it was his subordinates that attacked us." Naomasa froze. What else could he do? Midoriya had just spoken the name of a demon from his past that he had pointedly never mentioned, and to make it even worse, he had just claimed that he wasn't dead.

"Ex-excuse me?" Naomasa couldn't help as the blood leached from his face. He felt lightheaded, even as the snarling from beside him had Naomasa turning his head almost mechanically towards the president.

"That bastard was involved with the attack?" Nedzu's lips had pulled back from his muzzle, and the fur of his collar was fluffed up in anger.

"Not directly, I don't think. The main instigator of the attack-" Naomasa threw up his hands, cutting Midoriya off. He felt like throwing up.

"You knew?" Naomasa was staring directly at Nedzu before turning his gaze towards Midoriya. "You knew? That that thing was alive. You two knew?"

A bark of angry laughter had Naomasa turning his head towards Nedzu. "Of course, I knew. U.A. was part of the treaty between All for One and the government."

The single statement had Naomasa blanking out entirely. Like a computer crashing, it was several seconds before the detective found his senses again. When he did, he reached out slowly, pulling the tape recorder back into his coat pocket. Grasping, he slowly pulled off his hat and set it on one of the many surfaces around the room. For several seconds, he rubbed his hands against his face before speaking.

"Okay. No records, I'll just write this up later. Does someone want to start from the beginning? I seem to be missing a few pieces of critical information here." Midoriya looked uneasy, as if he was remembering something. Glancing at the president, the chimera shrugged. Midoriya sighed.

"In the summer of 2297, a major fight between hero, All Might, and the class five quirk threat villain known as All for One leveled an entire city on the western seaboard. The Japanese government covered this fact up as a natural disaster." Naomasa nodded along with a grim face.

"I'm aware. I was part of the team involved. A lot of us haven't slept well since that day. The casualties of that fight still haunt the town, even after rebuilding."

"Yes, well, barely four years later, he returned to the underground. Rumors of his return circulated quickly in the underworld, and it wasn't long before government informants were passing the information back up the chain."

"As is the way it works, yes."

"Of course, the government sent informants to the regions in question to poke around. When they finally had their responses, it was from notably fewer people than they'd sent out. As it turned out, while the government had spent billions rebuilding Niigata after the fight, the programs for the people living there had failed, as they always seem to. All for One had stepped in to help the people in their place, and the people started to trust the man." A slight choking noise could be heard from Naomasa. The president simply looked bored with the information he was already aware of.

"He was the one that destroyed the city in the first place!"

"And?" Midoriya just raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Shit like that doesn't happen every day, certainly, but there is a certain level of destruction everyone is used to nowadays. I'm sure they didn't like his presence at first, but what else were they supposed to do? The government had failed them, the 'hero' had destroyed their city and fucked off to who knows where." A statement, not a question. "And here is the supposed villain, bowing his head and apologizing to them, offering them work and aid, protection from the gangs and criminals that had taken root."

Naomasa felt a knot settle in his stomach as Midoriya continued. He didn't like where this was going. "The last time they'd fought the man, the losses incurred had been astronomical, personally and monetarily. They couldn't risk losing the Symbol of Peace, as he was called by that point, so the government decided to take a different approach this time around."

"Quite a useful one, all things considered. I'd prefer to get this smoothed out quickly. A war with All for One would be problematic." Nedzu had calmed down marginally after hearing that All for One wasn't the main culprit. The knot in Naomasa's stomach cinched tighter.

"What approach did the government take, Midoriya?" Midoriya gave him a look of something approaching pity, even if it didn't make it further than his eyes.

"The first thing they did was declare an information quarantine. No one that was on the original investigation team was to be informed. You were all supposed to continue living your lives considering him dead."

"That's not possible. All of us were fairly high-ranking officers at the time. We would have come across traces of his existence again."

"You're right. You never did because you transferred to a small precinct, and one or two of the others had the same luck, I think. Would have to check my files to be sure."

"And the rest?"

"Either they followed the NDA and left it alone, or they were silenced. Too much of a security risk, otherwise."

"How many."

"At least one, couldn't give you an exact number. I never continued the line of investigation. Wasn't important." Naomasa wanted to yell for that comment. Each of them had been damn good cops on that team. It did matter. But that wasn't what Midoriya was saying, even if it felt like it.

"What did they do next?" Nedzu was the one to answer him this time. He was hunched forward slightly, elbow on his knee and paw on his chin.

"They brought those of us to the table they thought needed to be involved in a long-term negotiation. The Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, Detnerat, NTT, Nippon, and Dai-ichi Life, the top three hero schools, so U.A., Ketsubutso, and Shiketsu. There were also a few other groups, but it hardly matters now." Midoriya nodded.

"Mei and I were brought in a few years ago after All for One visited us in our headquarters. The government views our technology as an integral part of the redesign and expansion of the JSDF. So when we were visited, the government stepped in and brokered a deal between us." If Naomasa could have gone paler, he would have. As it was, he felt a painful thump in his chest.

"You have deals with All for One?" Naomasa practically croaked the words.

"'Had' would be the operative word. He thought our technology could help heal him." Naomasa's eyes widened in horror.

"You- you didn't."

"Oh gods no. I'm not stupid, Nao. We both walked away unhappy with the deal, but it has held." Naomasa slumped.

"Fucking start with that!" Midoriya shrugged.

"As it was, we couldn't have fixed him at that point anyway. Could do it now, but there isn't a chance in hell I'm going to."

"What did you do for him, then?"

"I gave him his face back and restored his sinuses. Even if he's a meatball on the inside, still doesn't mean he had to look like it. All Might literally managed to punch a man's face off." Naomasa rubbed his temple.

"That was supposed to kill him." Midoriya rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, real heroic, that. If you want someone dead, chop off their head and burn the body. Otherwise, you're going to end up with them crawling back out of the grave." Naomasa looked slightly aghast at the thought but waved his hand.

"Back on topic. What was the deal they made with All for One?" Nedzu shrugged this time.

"Fairly groundbreaking for who it was made with but nothing crazy in the contents. We recognize his presence and the good he's doing for Niigata. The government ceases its pursuit of the man, as well as his operations. In return, he makes certain concessions and follows certain rules." Naomasa simply hung his head, tired and drained.

"This entire thing is making a mockery of justice. What rules did he have to follow?"

"There were two major clauses for All for One to follow. The one of lesser importance was regarding the crimes that the government wasn't willing to look the other way on. No more terrorism. No genocide, slavery, human trafficking, or cannibalism. No violations of the Geneva Conventions. Most of that is self-explanatory and irrelevant but was put down, anyway."

How the hell is any of that the lesser importance?

"The big thing was the second clause. Should Japan come under assault from a foreign power, All for One would step up and aid in Japan's defense." Naomasa felt his jaw drop.

"You turned the symbol of evil into a god damned nuclear deterrent?!" Midoriya scoffed at him.

"You sound like Shimura. The only people who called him the symbol of evil were the One for All users," Midoriya muttered. Fucking edgy name. Naomasa was staring blankly at him again.

"You know about One for All. And Shimura? What about Shimura?" Midoriya threw his hands in the air before letting them fall back into his lap, disconcerted. Midoriya winced. Bad idea.

"A conversation for another time. You're here about the USJ, aren't you?"

"Of course it is." Naomasa looked around before shaking his head. "I need coffee before we continue this."

…

The silence that Nedzu's secretary walked into was stifling. One of his employer's personal students laid in the bed, bandaged from the neck down, while his other sat on the window sill, glaring at the police detective. A police detective who looked one step from death. Tired and sick. Nedzu simply sat next to the side table with a cup of tea and his teapot. That particularly confused the secretary, because he had just seen that exact teapot on the president's desk, and he certainly hadn't brought it down to the mammal. In fact, he had his hands full with the requested coffee.

The detective took the coffee from him gratefully while Hatsume practically snatched the other cup, now glaring at the student in the bed before downing half of it, all while maintaining eye contact. After a moment, she went back to glaring at the detective. The secretary shook his head. Whatever this was, he didn't want to know. He had kept this position for so long because of one thing. Discretion. He sure as hell wasn't going to stop that now.

The president dismissed him, and he gladly left the room.

…

"So, the USJ." Naomasa broke the awkward silence once the door closed behind Nedzu's secretary. The coffee tasted glorious. Real beans, instead of the instant shit they had at the precinct. "Hatsume, I'm going to have to ask you to-"

"Bite me." Hatsume's glare narrowed, daring Naomasa to finish that sentence. Midoriya put his hand on her arm before turning back to the detective.

"It's fine, Nao. Anything I have to say, she already knows, anyway. My suit was recording the entire time." A frustrated scream was beginning to build in Naomasa's chest.

"Are you telling me that we have a full recording of the USJ from start to finish, from your perspective? And you are just now telling me this?" Midoriya's eyes widened as they flicked between the other three in the room with him. Three levels of varying disbelief and, in Hatsume's case, amusement.

"Uh, whoops?" Naomasa rubbed his face with a sigh.

"This, Midoriya. This kind of shit is why we stopped asking for your help." Midoriya flinched.

"In my defense, I have other things on my mind at the moment." Naomasa leveled a flat stare at the two students.

"We arrested just over two hundred villains at the USJ, dead and alive. The students fought over five-to-one odds. And you're just now telling me that the evidence I needed was just hanging out in a server bank somewhere. I want that recording." Hatsume clicked her tongue but pulled an external hard drive from one of her pockets and handed it to him. Naomasa gave his thanks curtly. "I'll review the footage later. For now, tell me what happened. I want to hear your thoughts." Midoriya shrugged.

"You'll see my actions. I did what I believed was necessary in order to keep the others alive."

"That's not what I was asking, Midoriya."

"My actions speak for themselves. I will not apologize, if that is what you're looking for." Naomasa glanced down and placed his hand on the hard drive.

"Fine. I'll be back after reviewing the footage with more questions. I should-" Nedzu's eyes gleamed as he cut in.

"I think you should stay. We could use your quirk for my questions." Naomasa took in the narrowing of Midoriya's eyes, as well as the smile on Nedzu's face, which never failed to send shivers down his spine.

"I don't think you'll find his quirk terribly useful against me." Naomasa narrowed his own eyes.

"Why is that, Midoriya?"

"Because I don't lie." Naomasa sat back down. Something told him that he should just get the revelations out of the way.

"Everyone lies, Midoriya."

"Not everyone, Nao."

"Midoriya, did you run experiments on sentient beings with the purpose of developing extensive genetic and mechanical modifications."

"No, I did not." Naomasa raised his eyebrows at the two beings staring each other down. He didn't know why these questions were being asked or where they were going, but considering the content, Naomasa wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"True."

"Have you, Midoriya, ever intentionally harmed a sentient being for an experiment or test."

"No, I have not."

"True."

"Is Midoriya Izuku the only name that you have ever gone by?" Midoriya stiffened. It was minute, but Naomasa saw his hand clench at his side.

"Of course not. I'm an information broker."

"True. Nedzu, I'm not sure where you're going with this, but-."

"Midoriya, how old were you when you received your military training?" It was Naomasa's turn to stiffen. Military training? Naomasa had always assumed that Midoriya had been trained by some ex-hero. A vigilante maybe. Hell, even a villain. He hadn't gone to the military. Midoriya had been too young. Midoriya grit his teeth, eyes flicking toward Naomasa.

"I joined the military in a legal manner." True.

"That wasn't the question, Midoriya. Were you under eighteen Earth years old when you joined the military?" Midoriya narrowed his eyes as if in thought before hissing at the chimera. Nedzu offered a vicious grin.

"Fourteen. I was fourteen when I went through basic training." Naomasa blinked. True.

"Midoriya, the minimum age to join the JSDF is eighteen."

"I'm well aware."

"Was it the JSDF that you joined at the age of fourteen, Midoriya?"

"No," he replied shortly, the word practically a growl. True.

What exactly was going on here? Midoriya had never left Japan before beginning his company, according to their records. Besides, that wasn't- Wait, fourteen?

"Midoriya, how old were you when you were put into your coma?" Midoriya turned a snarl towards him.

"Et tu, Brutus? I was put into a year-long coma on my fourteenth birthday." True. Nedzu looked like he had just won the jackpot as his eyes lit up. Finally, a puzzle piece clicked into place for the chimera.

"What was the quirk of your attacker, Midoriya?" Midoriya's face became stony.

"Explosion." True. Nedzu's smile dropped a bit. That tainted the small victory.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that Bakugo would go that far, even at such a young age. I would never have allowed him into this school if I had known."

"We've had that conversation, sir." Less jubilantly, Nedzu nodded his head and continued.

"The quirk of the man who put you in a coma, Midoriya?"

"Unknown, even to me."

"True." All three men turned towards Hatsume, fidgeting with several small parts of some device. She shrugged. "No reason Nao should get to have all the true/false fun."

Nedzu stopped asking questions for a long moment, long enough that Naomasa felt like he might get up and leave. He already had enough to sort out in his head without whatever nonsense was going on with Midoriya. Hell, it hadn't even been his case. Then Nedzu lit up, and Midoriya's snarl was back in full force.

"Don't you fucking ask that-"

"How old were you during the majority of your special forces operations?" Midoriya opened his mouth to shout but clenched down hard enough he felt his jaw creak.

"Old enough and with enough training." Nedzu smiled. He had him.

"Mei we're leaving." Midoriya attempted to get up and leave before he was pushed back down by Naomasa. Midoriya snarled at the man.

"I'm considering this a part of the USJ investigation now Midoriya. Who are you?"

"How many Earth years old were you during the majority of your special forces operations?"

"Late twenties, early thirties." Both creatures blinked. Nedzu's brain worked in overdrive, looking for an explanation with what he knew. He expected an extra year or two. Maybe he was a government plant in U.A. Maybe he came up with some kind of youth serum. Nedzu hadn't known what to expect on that front, really, but he hadn't expected a decade of time missing. As if the reason for his anger had suddenly left, Midoriya sagged with a long, sad sigh.

"Told you it would come out at some point, Izu."

"How fucking pointless." Straightening, Midoriya placed his left arm behind him in the small of his back and his right arm fisted across his stomach. With a slight bow of his right shoulder, Midoriya spoke.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself properly. Lieutenant Perry Midoriya Izuku, second in command of the Black Cats, at your service."

Notes:

If anyone would like to support my writing, remember you can find out how Here! I'm infinitely grateful for anyone who can and does!