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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (30+ chapters ahead)
CHAPTER START---
Sitting in the back of the limo Eraser is eating a simple bento box while Horizon enjoys a meal bar.
Horizon takes out his phone and quickly takes a picture of his Provisional Hero License.
It was similar to a driver's license, but of course, it's supposed to have your true legal identification.
So for someone like Endeavor, it'd have 'Enji Todoroki' followed by his Hero name, and a picture of him without his Hero Costume.
Revealing it would announce yourself to the world and tell everyone exactly where you live.
But for Horizon. All it had was the name 'Horizon.' No address, no other identification. And a picture of him wearing his visor. Perfectly keeping himself insulated. It didn't even have his date of birth.
"Nezu really went out of his way for this trick..." he mutters while taking the picture and posting it on his profile. Since it was completely harmless he didn't really mind, not to mention impersonating him would lead to...very dangerous situations, and is illegal.
For the same reason, people don't impersonate top Pro Heroes. Some villains want to make a name for themselves by killing a top Pro. Walking around dressed as a top Pro, is an easy way to get attacked by someone who at least thinks they're capable of killing that hero.
There are much easier ways to commit suicide than that.
'Time to start hunting down some villains!' was the simple caption he puts with the picture before posting it.
And Eraser's phone immediately goes off. He takes it out and checks it then glances at Horizon.
"What's your plan for actually taking down villains?" Eraser asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Where do you plan to patrol? Saitama with Endeavor and Burnin?"
"Minato Tokyo."
Eraser raises a brow at that, "why there?" he takes a bite of his lunch.
"Because the All Might agency is there. It's the most densely populated place in Japan, but because of him instead of being the most crime-filled, it was also one of the safest.
But now since he's in Musutafu, and you know...the other thing."
Eraser nods, not wanting to speak about All Might's condition aloud, even in here.
"Yeah well, villains are slowly waking up to the change. The crime rate there has been doubling every week or so, it's the highest it's been in decades already."
"So you're taking his old territory?"
"Yup, and there aren't even many agencies there since he did so much work that they either moved away or starved and went bankrupt. No competition."
"Endeavor is sending someone with you?"
"Nope, all solo."
"Without Hero Network access that'll be hard to do, what do you have, an old police scanner?"
"Since I've got this Provisional License Nezu pulled some strings to get me a Hero Network account. I'll be plugged in and cops can call me for help. Or Pro Heroes can request a team-up."
"Giving someone without a full license access is treason. You're supposed to finish your three-year Provisional License time before you get a full license. Not to mention if you break any rules it could get your current license annulled and make you take the exam over, if you don't get expelled.
And if you aren't in a Hero Course you can't even take the exam..."
"I know how it works. Relax, Nezu got Pantu to approve it, I think. I don't know, didn't bother asking. The point is it's legit, with special approval and all that.
This way I can operate solo. It's better that I do things this way, even if at the moment I'll technically have to be attached to the Endeavor Agency on paper, working with him is good to show that he trusts me to handle myself and villains.
But I also need to be seen working solo so people don't think I'm actually trying to be a Sidekick. I'm nobody's Sidekick."
"Hmm, makes sense. The press can be brutal about labels. If you have Endeavor in every case you solve then the media will treat it like you're just an accessory to him."
"Exactly what I'm trying to avoid, especially since I plan to open my own Hero Agency as soon as the three-year trial period on the license is complete."
"Well it'll be done just three months after you graduate, that means you'll be 19...youngest Hero to ever open an agency. Even Endeavor spent a year as a Sidekick before opening his at 20, and Hawks was the same age as that when he appeared on the scene."
"Yup, my glorious three-year plan."
"How many days is Nezu giving you off from school for Hero Work?"
"He's giving me Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."
"Half the school week...well, I guess it makes sense since it's you. And since it's you I assume you'll be working on Sundays too?"
"That's usually when I have my patients, but yeah I'll work when I'm not dealing with that."
"Right, sometimes I really do forget you're a doctor."
"Best in the world."
Eraser groans and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well clearly people don't mind challenging you just because of your reputation. Gang Orca and Mirko..."
"Yeah, the commission must have wanted to give me a challenge," Horizon says with a shrug. "Makes sense, if they weren't there I would have just warped everyone to safety. Keeping me distracted was the best way to make sure I didn't just carry everyone else."
"I still don't like it," Eraser says. "People who are ahead shouldn't be punished, they should be encouraged to keep improving. You worked hard to get to the point where that exam would be easy, they just increased the difficulty to spite that, there weren't any lessons to be had there..."
"Well I appreciate it, honestly," Horizon says. "I've been struggling to get a good fight with a true Power Type lately.
Deku is too much of a little bitch to fight me, Kirishima sucks at anything other than just being a meatshield. And Sato gets tired too quickly. Gang Orca and Mirko were perfect."
Eraser sighs, "you know if you were nicer to Midoriya he'd probably spar with you. Maybe you should consider it."
"Maybe he should finally grow some balls and go fuck himself, he pulls away anything I'm near him, like he's scared I'm made of lava or something."
"So does Todoroki," Eraser says. "It's a healthy reaction after seeing you rip out a still-beating heart."
"Ugh," Horizon groans. "That was over a month ago, when will you people just get over it already."
"Have they given you any warning about that?"
Horizon sighs. "Some crap about not removing organs unless absolutely necessary, but I can cut people up since it doesn't kill them. Surprising they haven't said anything about me being able to just use Incision to cut a car in half if I wanted to."
"Please don't kill anyone."
"As if I'd ever make a sloppy mistake like that."
"You're supposed to say 'I'd never do that since I'm a hero,' or something like that."
"Whatever..."
The limo soon comes to a stop at the front gate of UA.
"We got back before school finished," Eraser says. "Get to your homeroom and wait for the others, I'll go put your Provisional License Exam score into the system for your final grade..."
---20 Minutes Later...
Horizon is sitting at his desk, now back in his regular uniform. Scrolling though his phone he's taking in all the reactions of people online.
And he saved a certain picture.
It was one incredible shot of him walking away with his sword still drawn, and a few drops of blood on it. And behind him, clearly visible, were Gang Orca and Mirko, absolutely beaten down. The ground around them was torn up from Mirko and Orca's previous attacks.
He couldn't upload this picture himself to his profile, that would simply be unprofessional and seen as bad taste. His image is all about being the perfect hero, and being respected by other heroes is part of that.
He was sure there were people already dealing with those who uploaded these pictures.
But they couldn't exactly put the news back into the bottle now. The world already knew, and on his profile, they would always appear in his 'tagged photos' tab.
A few moments later and all his classmates begins pouring into class, most don't pay any mind to his sudden appearance at the very end of the day.
But Sero, Momo, Jiro, and Tokoyami immediately begin chatting with him as they all get into the class, with Jiro leaning against Tokoyami's desk to face Horizon.
"Dude you missed the practical exams! Where were you?!" Sero yells out.
"I was busy, it's no big deal."
"I don't think being Principal Nezu's favorite is gonna cut it this time," Jiro says. "Aside from Kaminari and Ashido, you're technically the only person that failed."
"The idiot duo failed...how shocking."
Jiro chuckles at the unintentional pun, "yeah they got matched with the principal, it wasn't even close."
"Did he do the crane thing?"
"Y--- how'd you know?"
"Well, he told me about it a while ago over a chess game, said it's easier than playing against me. He hasn't won even once, 33-0."
"Are you sure you're human?" Tokoyami asks, genuinely curious as to how beating Nezu at chess was possible.
"I'm human, his brain just isn't wired for combat, and Quirks, I'm better at that. Anyway did anything fun happen at your exams?"
"We used our new Hero Costumes!" Momo says excitedly, then her voice drops a bit. "But you weren't here to see them."
"Oh yeah, those were pretty cool," Sero says. "I kinda prefer Momo's old costume honestly."
Jiro jabs him with an Earphone Jack for saying that.
"Ouch! Hey! I mean I like the new ones, especially Jiro's cyborg look."
"Cyborg?" Horizon asks. "Copying someone?"
Jiro just blushes and looks away. "It's not that I was copying you, it was just the best I could think of on the spot with Hatsume."
"Well if you're gonna copy someone, it might as well be me..."
After a few minutes of everyone talking about how their they finally got to Jiro.
"Wait, you really thought Mic was 'just an announcer,' seriously?"
"Well, I didn't think he nearly rupture my eardrums. He just seemed really goofy..."
"You know, I figured since sound-based Quirks are so rare for heroes...that you would have done your research," Horizon says. "Mic is literally the most powerful offensive sound user in Japan, I mean when he was born he blew out the ears of everyone in the room. Only that one guy from the Philippines is better."
Jiro scratches her cheek, not realizing how much she underestimated him, "damn...yeah well I guess I'm pretty dumb for not checking that."
"What happened to your knuckles?" Tokoyami asks Horizon, noticing that the knuckle pads on his new body glove are all scuffed.
"Oh, that," Horizon raises his hands to show them. "Wore them out punching Gang Orca in the face."
The entire class goes completely silent and just turns to stare at him.
"Oh, it's on my profile, the whole fight and the aftermath, check it out..." and that's exactly what they all do.
"You got your license!" Sero is the first to yell out.
"And you beat up two of the top 10 Pro Heroes...damn," Jiro says.
Behind Horizon, Momo was intently staring at the shaky video of the fight, more and more amazed by him, realizing that all the extra training the entire class was doing since Iida died wasn't nearly enough. Not with someone like this sitting beside them.
"How come you were the only one that took the exam?" Tokoyami asks. "Not that I believe I'm ready for such an honor..."
"Well, that's pretty simple, because I'm just better than all of you..."
END CHAPTER---