The Emperor's Dragon II

Interview

Hitoshi sat down and looked over the table at the person who was going to question him. It was an older man and he just wore a shirt and pants. He didn't appear special which was... Hitoshi wasn't sure what it meant at the moment.

"Usually we wouldn't do this," the man said without preamble. "But given the current situation-" he shrugged and then appeared to want an answer.

Hitoshi didn't sigh though he wanted to. Aizawa had warned him there'd be games within games and that he'd have to play at least one level of them.

"It's a special situation," he replied.

The man gave him a look and then nodded. "We want to pre-empt any questions," he explained.

Hitoshi returned the nod.

"And we want to help him," the man continued.

For a moment Hitoshi didn't understand and then he nodded. He knew how this went. The official line wasn't trotted out much because most villains were older but there had been a few who were tagged that way officially when they were young. Then the Hero Public Safety Commission always said the same thing. He wanted to brace himself to say it but knew he couldn't. If he did that then they'd know he was lying.

Instead Hitoshi blew out a small breath and half closed his eyes as he nodded and looked down at the table. "I understand. The sooner Izuku can be brought in, the-" he paused, making a face as he considered. "The less time he will have had to commit crimes and-" he shook his head. "Hopefully they won't be that bad, so the punishment won't need to be that bad," he said with a slightly hopeful note in his voice.

"Exactly," the man said. "Now, let's start," he added. "What is your name?"

"Hitoshi Shinsou," he replied.

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Quirk?" While they weren't meant to ask about his quirk, he knew this question had been coming. These days, the standard set of questions always included information about your quirk.

"Reaction based brainwashing," Hitoshi said. Aizawa had counselled that it would be better than saying brainwashing. Adding the two words somehow made his quirk seem far less dangerous because it implied there were conditions. There were conditions but most people considered them to be dangerously easy to achieve. But until someone knew what the conditions were, the words acted as a protection. The underground hero had explained it was all about perception.

"Your occupation?"

"High school student."

"Where?"

"UA, first year, General studies course."

The man nodded at him. Hitoshi didn't react. He knew these basic questions were to establish a baseline.

"How long have you known Izuku Midoriya, also known as Mitei Chui or Izuku Chui?"

"Since I was eight," Hitoshi said, and did not volunteer any further information.

That had been another of Aizawa's instructions. The man had told him to answer the questions but to do nothing more. Hitoshi hadn't needed an explanation as to why that was best.

"How did you meet him?"

"Izuku walked up to me one lunch time and said he wanted to be friends," Hitoshi answered. It was a little bit more complicated than that. He still remembered being confronted by a giant of a man the day before but essentially that is what had happened.

"Just like that?" the man seemed sceptical.

"Just like that," Hitoshi confirmed. "We were eight. There didn't need to be other formalities," he added somewhat sarcastically.