The Emperor's Dragon

With Friends Like These

"Tsukauchi, can you spare some time?" Josei asked.

The Detective sighed. He knew what the question meant. If they could get away with it, his colleagues would have had him sit in on every interrogation. Or have gotten him to conduct them. Knowing when someone was lying was a useful quirk but sometimes it was tiring. "Who is it?" He asked before agreeing.

Josei probably wouldn't want him because she'd brought in some small timer, but you never knew. His colleague gave her own sigh. "We've got a broker," she told him.

"Really?"

Brokers weren't rare but the good ones tended to remain really hidden. Brokers, the good ones anyway, dealt with anything you could imagine. There were specialist brokers who dealt people but others focused on drugs, support items, weapons, and anything else that would make them a profit. There were even information brokers, though Tsukauchi knew that those brokers were currently in a bit of disarray. One of the really big information brokers had been taken out when All Might fought All For One and they hadn't recovered yet.

It was a good thing for the police, since the villains were less informed, even a year or so on but it wouldn't last.

"Yes, really. It's Juhin," Josei told him.

"Juhin?" Naomasa repeated the name. "You're kidding me!" He knew that name. Juhin was pretty big.

Josei shook her head to indicate it wasn't a joke and Tsukauchi felt himself rise. If they had Juhin then it wasn't going to be a waste of his quirk to sort out the lies she'd no doubt tell. "You know about Operation Kensaku?" Josei asked him.

He'd heard of it. The Police ran so many operations that unless you were directly involved it was hard to keep track. And since he dealt with Hero agencies, he didn't have the time to keep track of any Police only activities, not unless it impacted on an agency.

"Operation Kensaku was launched after All Might took out Toxic Chainsaw. It was looking for villains who were profiteering from that battle."

"And it caught Juhin?"

"Apparently," Josei admitted as they walked towards the interrogation rooms. "Tsukauchi," she said seriously. "We've got her dead to rights on a lot of charges. She knows that too. She's not even fighting some of the charges but she wants to cut a deal."

Naomasa stopped. He shouldn't be surprised, brokers made deals all the time, but he was. "What's she offering?" he asked. Juhin couldn't cut a deal unless she knew something.

"We're not sure yet," Josei shrugged. "The Captain sent me to get you first."

The Detective sighed, and nodded. That made sense. "You want me to lead?"

Josei nodded. Tsukauchi shouldn't have been surprised at that. "Alright, bring me her file, and I'll just start general today," he said. "She's been arrested, right?" He checked.

His colleague nodded again. Tsukauchi blew out his breath. He had time before they had to release her on bail, though given that it was Juhin, the Detective imagined the paperwork was already being done to extend the time.

"Let's get this done."

-ted-

Detective Tsukauchi leaned back in his chair. The interrogation rooms were always sparsely furnished and he'd gotten used to the lack of padding for his butt. He did it by ingesting copious amounts of coffee, and a steaming cup was resting on the table. It was out of reach of the broker, Juhin but he could tell she'd like some.

"So you want to cut a deal?" he asked.

She nodded, her eyes fixed on the coffee still. She couldn't reach for it. Her hands were fixed to the table.