The Emperor's Dragon

Uncomfortable Realisations

"A confidentiality agreement?" Scorn almost dripped from Shunin's voice.

Inko sat beside him at the table. Shunin of the firm Reikokuna was everything Watanabe had promised, even with this meeting not going the way he'd predicted. He'd predicted that they'd try to stonewall again.

The Commission actually agreeing to her Request For Information, with terms, was not what they had been expecting today. When they'd first said they would tell her, she'd felt her heart soar. Then the conditions had left her feeling confused and hurt.

"You need a confidentiality agreement to tell Mrs Midoriya the operational reason for not retrieving a kidnapped nine year old?"

Shunin seemed to understand her pain. She thought, on some level he did. She wasn't foolish. Shunin was the Principal Lawyer for Reikokuna and you did not get the Principal Lawyer taking your case when it was a mere Request For Information dispute. Not even when that dispute was with the Commission unless he had some prior reason. She hadn't asked.

"While the outcome of the main operation is a matter of public record," the Commission's lawyer said reasonably, "there were other operations of a sensitive nature run simultaneously. Mrs Midoriya's son is unfortunately connected to one of those operations and the information is still sensitive."

Shunin almost laughed. "So what you are telling me is that the Commission was using a nine year old as an informant," he surmised.

"I said no such thing!"

"So how else is information on a nine year old confidential?"

"The context of the information is confidential," came the reply.

Shunin seemed to sense that he wasn't going to gain any further information in that direction. "The Commission was adamant they could not share the information previously, yet today you are prepared to do it, so why the change of heart?"

The mediator looked interested in that question as well. She was a neutral party and beyond asking some beginning questions today and providing introductions, she had so far said nothing. From the previous session, Inko knew her role was simply to keep them on track and to break up any fights. Not physically but verbal fights. Inko wasn't sure she'd want to work in a place where all you saw was dispute after dispute but she supposed, it must be nice when you could do the job and actually mediate between the parties. It would make you feel like you'd contributed to making the world a more harmonious place.

"Regrettably, to date, those dealing with Mrs Midoriya's Request For Information have focused on the confidential aspects when making their assessments. The previous mediation session has provided a prompt for a reassessment, with a focus on her son's age at the time. He was ,as you say, nine, and therefore completely innocent of any crime," the Commission's lawyer said, somewhat deprecatingly. "However the confidential aspects of the operation are still in play, and must be respected, hence the Confidentiality Agreement is required."

Shunin looked at the other lawyer carefully. Inko wasn't sure what he was looking for but eventually he nodded. "My client will not be signing any confidentiality agreement I have not checked," he announced.

"Of course!" the Commission's lawyer actually managed to sound vaguely insulted. "I have a copy here, or can forward you one for assessment?"

"Forward it," Shunin instructed tersely.

Inko watched on, feeling a vague sense of disquiet that was rapidly blooming into something more. She wanted the information on Izuku but this quiet outcome wasn't what she needed. She needed the day in court. She needed to see All Might's agency across the other side of the table, for All Might to know the pain she'd experienced.