There were many questions about Shoto Todoroki that the Heroic Commission was able to answer.

Firstly, he had witnessed a great deal of violence as a child, which must have damaged his psyche irreparably - that was a bad point.

Secondly, he was very close to his father, one of the few realistic Heroes who travelled the world without imagining that for every life he saved, he was making the world a better place - this was a good point.

He'd recently killed three men. Villains

Ryota tapped his pencil on the paper for a few seconds, indecisive, then drew a third column, 'Neutral', above the other two, and put it there.

He was in a Heroic school, the best in the country. He might be doing this to please his father. Or to get his licence. Maybe for glory ? Certainly not to save people.

Ryota filed the new information in the neutral column.

He had a distant relationship with the Italian Mafia, as far as they knew. As for the exact nature of this relationship, no one had yet managed to find out what it was. Perhaps he was hiding something darker. Maybe he had more blood on his hands than it seemed.

Ryota crossed out the last line. Speculating on the basis of little information was the trap that everyone in his profession fell into over and over again.

When he was ten, his first psychiatrist had diagnosed him as emotionally dependent on his father.

This was confirmed by his last regular psychiatrist, who had been treating him since he was 12. Shoto was emotionally attached to at least one person.

This removed the 'sociopath' box.

It also reduced the chances of him going berserk and slaughtering his entire school on a random Thursday morning. Good point.

He also didn't care what other people thought. Otherwise, he wouldn't have killed all those people in public and made no attempt to hide it. A good point, if it meant he didn't mind being one of the 'bad' heroes. Or a bad one if it meant that he already knew himself to be so superior to the common man that he didn't care what insects thought of him.

He didn't seem the arrogant type - his confidence seemed well justified.

Ryota created a third bubble, right at the bottom. Worrying.

But he'd been approached by the Special Forces and seemed interested. Maybe he was destining himself for a military career, at least for a while, like his father.

Patriotic, then.

Or perhaps he wanted to curb his impulses by killing within a legal framework.

There were many like him.

Always the most efficient.

Good point.

Ryota paused for a moment, stepped back from his list and counted:

Two good, two neutral, one bad, one worrying.

His pencil tapped on the worrying box, as if his thoughts could jump out of his head and onto the paper of their own accord.

He added: 'Total abilities unknown'. Worrying.

Distrust of authority. Worrying.

Potential threat. Worrying.

What would he do if his father was in danger ?

Ryota's pencil froze on the paper.

If Endeavor was ever in potential mortal danger, then according to his psychological profile, Shoto-

The door opened.

Ryota, hunched over his paper, sat up abruptly.

Standing in the doorway was his secretary, coffee in one hand and her finger on her earpiece in the other. The blue light on it lit up, and Ryota knew she was taking another call.

- Heroic Commission, Secretary General for Security Affairs, hello, can you hold on a moment ?

She pressed her earpiece to pause the call, then whispered :

- Your eleven o'clock appointment, sir

Then she stepped back and let in a small creature who needed no introduction.

Ryota ran a hand over his face, then straightened up and pushed the sheet of paper he'd been writing on under a pile of other documents.

- I hope I'm not disturbing you

Nezu's whiskers came through the frame.

His small lips curled up his rodent-like fangs and Ryota suddenly felt very alert.

- Not at all. I was just doing some paperwork. Come in, come in

Nezu entered whistling, his paws behind his back, looking at the place as if he were observing the countryside on a leisure journey.

Ryota stood up and walked around his desk, clutching the small paw of Yuei's headmaster. One of his claws scratched his skin, and Ryota wondered if he'd done it on purpose.

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- Please sit here

Ryota resumed his seat behind his desk as Nezu made himself comfortable, his beady little eyes glancing briefly at the desk, which Ryota knew was not an insignificant glance.

They may have worked for the same side, but Nezu worked for himself more than for anyone else.

- Thank you for finally coming after being so... busy lately, Ryota said.

Nezu looked as calm and in control as ever.

- Thank you for your consideration. It's true that the last few weeks have been hectic, to say the least, and that it was impossible for me to grant your request for an appointment as soon as you wished.

Ryota, perfect diplomat, just smiled.

- So I guess everything is going well ?

- More than well, actually, Nezu replied with a smile that perfectly matched Ryota's own.

There was a moment of silence, but Nezu said nothing more.

- I would like to talk to you about the case of Shoto Todoroki, if you don't mind.

- I can't speak on his behalf, Ryota. Nor his father.

Ryota brushed his remark aside with a hand.

- I'm not asking you to speak on behalf of anyone, but simply to express your opinion of the boy as Yuei's headmaster.

Nezu opened his mouth to speak but Ryota silenced him by raising his hand.

- Let me remind you that Yuei only exists because the government wants it to. Your special status and that of your institution can be revoked at the slightest suspicion of corruption.

Nezu continued to smile pleasantly, but the sharp half-teeth revealed by his slightly upturned upper lip showed Ryota that he didn't appreciate being threatened this way.

- Suspicions of corruption? There's no favouritism or anything like that at my school, Ryota. I've always been very impartial and fair. Ask All Might, he'll tell you.

Ryota didn't miss the subtle jab.

- As for taking away 'my status', you have neither the right nor the power to do so.

Ryota's smile was as thin as it was genuine.

It would take a lot for the Japanese government to decide to part with Nezu, the most intelligent individual in the world, whose personal fortune made him as influential as a single nation.

Even if his Heroes factory was the most efficient on the continent, the government would no longer turn a blind eye to the 'subtle' influence he exerted on all his Heroic sprouts if it turned out that he was growing a poisonous plant at the back of his greenhouse.

- And I certainly don't want to, believe me, Ryota replied in a falsely chagrined tone. But the case of young Shoto Todoroki is a cause for concern and you know it as well as I do.

Nezu studied Ryota in silence, then let out a long sigh and pretended to massage his temples with one hand, one arm resting on the armrest.

- I'd like to help you, Ryota. I really would. But I'm not allowed to give out information about my students without direct permission from the prefect.

One of the many advantages Yuei had thanks to its 'special' status.

Ryota didn't believe for a second that the rat had admitted a false defeat.

- But maybe you've got permission, Nezu continued as he straightened up, his eyes shining. Do you, Ryota?

And from his fake hopeful tone, Ryota realised that Nezu was openly mocking him.

- You're protecting him because he's a minor, Ryota continued, "But he'll soon be eighteen - and once he comes of age, neither you nor Endeavor will be able to prevent us from taking legal action against him as a potential threat to our country's internal security.

- Big words, Nezu replied. This boy is not a 'potential threat' to anyone. He's been approached by the Special Forces, and it's highly likely that he'll accept their offer. But you knew that, didn't you?

Of course he knew.

The unwritten rule was that the first person from the Commission, the NCB or the Special Forces to approach an individual had a monopoly on the matter until the individual refused to pursue any relationship with one of the three institutions.

Ryota remembered well the juicy catch they had lost a few years ago, the boy who could manipulate shadows that had slipped through their fingers.

He had been perfect for the Special Forces, but Ryota always regretted that Gunhee had gotten to him first.

- You've just informed me about it

- So he's off-limits, Nezu replied, looking like he'd won a game.

- I don't think you really understand what I'm getting at, Ryota insisted.

- What I think, Nezu replied briskly, Is that you're still angry with me about All Might and that this little meeting is just a waste of my time.

- All Might is a person whose ownership no one can boast of, Ryota replied calmly. What you're talking about has nothing to do with our discussion.

- You don't like the fact that he chose to stay and study in Yuei after you suggested he join the Commission's intensive programme to become a Hero. You don't like the influence I have over him, and you don't like the influence I could have over Shoto, who could very well be the next All Might. You're afraid that my influence will grow too much and that I will become a threat to the country.

Ryota crossed his fingers on his stomach and sank back into his chair.

For a long moment, he watched Nezu in silence.

Nezu had laid his cards on the table.

Very well.

- Since you seem to be in a hurry to get our meeting over with, I'll tell you exactly what it's about: if you leave my office and I'm not satisfied with Shoto Todoroki's case, I'll dismiss you and appoint someone else in your place as Yuei's headmaster.

He handed a document with the Prime Minister's seal to Nezu who looked at it silently.

- I'll turn the school you've built into a ruin, and I'll see to it that all the precious students you've carefully selected from the four corners of the country become good and loyal Heroes of the Commission.

No man - or beast - should have so much influence over the future pillars of a country's internal security, no matter how clever he was.

- I will ruin you internationally and expose all the dirty tricks you and your lackey have been up to.

Other nations would be quick to open their doors to Nezu, until they understood the potential threat they were allowing to infiltrate their ranks.

And there was a reason Nezu stayed in Japan - despite his charm, he was still an animal experiment gone wrong.

No one would want a freak who, foaming at the mouth, would start a civil war in their country.

After all, animals will always be animals.

- I don't need to remind you of the Taiwan fiasco.

That was why Nezu, despite his intellect, was not recruited into the army or the defence.

Yuei was the toy he'd been given to keep him quiet, but even then he'd managed to turn it to his advantage by inventing the bloody title of 'Symbol of Peace', without which the civilians believed the whole country would collapse.

Everyone was now forced to play by the rules Nezu had laid down, knowing that the next symbol would emerge from Yuei as 'randomly' as the first had.

Nezu, deadly calm, had stopped waddling like a child, as he always did to make humans forget that he wasn't one of them.

His shining little black eyes looked up at Ryota and he stared at him for so long and so intensely that Ryota wondered if he was going to jump over the desk and rip his throat out with his little teeth as sharp as knives.

- This has nothing to do with Shoto Todoroki, does it?

- Shoto is the last straw, Ryota nuanced. Either you follow our rules or you're out.

The previous director before Ryota had been far too lenient with Nezu.

In a world where a child could be born with the power to single-handedly wipe out an entire country, leaving an individual like Nezu - with no ties or loyalties - in charge of their development was the equivalent of shooting yourself in both feet and gouging out both eyes; a suicide on countdown.

- Is that a threat?

Nezu's voice was deep, serious. Impenetrable.

But his claws had sunk into the armrests of the chair.

Still more animal than man.

- More like a promise. Remember, the Commission is watching you, and the freedom you've enjoyed has been drastically curtailed.

- I don't like threats

Nezu looked into Ryota's eyes without blinking for so long that Ryota thought he'd turned into a statue.

Then he put the paper down on Ryota's desk and smiled, and all the tension in the air vanished.

- But if it's for the good of the country, I can overlook it. What will it take ?

*

Author's note :

'Janus', from greek mythology, is a two-face deity, god of thresholds among other things.

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