Chapter 62: CHAPTER 058(Peerless)
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CHAPTER START---
'I hope this ceremony is quick,' Horizon thinks to himself, standing on a circular concrete pillar as it slowly rises out of the floor under Cementoss's command.
The dim lights is suddenly replaced by the afternoon sun. Silence destroyed by the cheers of the roaring crowd.
Three such pillars rise out of the lawn in the fully repaired arena. In the middle on the tallest stands Horizon, still in his full PE Uniform with the front open.
To his right on the second highest spot is Bakugo, both his arms in casts and bandages wrapping most of his torso, silently staring down at his feet with an unreadable expression, clearly deep in thought.
And to his left on the third place pillar is Tokoyami, standing proudly with both hands at his sides, perfectly neat and respectable.
And standing in front of them are all the first-year students, looking up at their winners.
"Your podium spot winners!" Midnight proudly announces, gesturing to the three students.
She steps in front of Tokoyami and waves toward him, all the cameras turn to the boy, "in third place, actually sharing this position with his classmate Todoroki -who is currently dealing with other issues-," she casts a slight glare at Horizon. "Is 1As warrior or darkness, Tokoyami Fumikage!"
The crowd goes wild, and Tokoyami can't help but flinch at the sound of people chanting his name, trying his best not to blush.
"And in second place," Midnight walks in front of Bakugo for everyone to focus on him. "Showing off his incredible explosives move in every stage of the competition, Katsuki Bakugo!"
All the cheers become support for Bakugo, but he just keeps staring down at his feet.
The echoing support of the people being warped and twisted by his own worldview, shifting and melding with his inner voice. And Bakugo hears it all.
He hears that he'll never be enough, and he can only agree...
"And finally, the person you've all been waiting for, mister miracle himself, HORIZON!"
The crowd shakes the stadium, completely growing out Midnight's words.
Down in the mess of students Jiro flinches and covers her ears as the chanting begins.
"Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-ri-zon!
Ho-riz-on!"
Seeing all the cameras on him Horizon creates a room just big enough to reach 1A's homeroom a few hundred meters away and gives a simple command.
SHAMBLES!
His PE Uniform swaps out for his full Hero Costume, now revealed for the entire world to see as he points his weapon to the sky.
And the crowd can't seem to get enough of it.
And unfortunately for anyone with sensitive ears, it only gets worse when All Might appears, leaping from atop the stadium down into the arena with absolute ease.
Not wanting to waste time All Might quickly move to take the medals and begins handing them out. All while trying not to imagine the annoyed look he knew Horizon was likely giving him below that visor.
While picking up the bronze medal and moving toward the stairs at Tokoyami's pillar he notices Izuku out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the boy with his right arm in a cast and bandages across his legs and torsor, a complex expression of sadness, disappointment, and pain, is written across his face.
'This was only the first year young Midoriya, I'm sure you'll get one of these medals and make your debut next time...but I hate to imagine what the competition will be able to do by then,' All Might thinks while approaching Tokoyami.
In truth he knew Izuku's lackluster performance in the eyes of everyone would hurt the boy, but he was more worried about the pain that would come tomorrow.
With over three decades as a Pro Hero he knows exactly how the media loves a good story, and the moment he landed in the arena he could feel the atmosphere shift.
It was no longer as simple as the people seeing All Might hand out some medals.
The way everyone perked up with hope would have been normal at his arrival, had those looks been directed toward him.
But they were all looking between him and Horizon.
Between the best heroes from two generations.
Between the future Symbol of Peace, and the person he'd be passing that torch to...
He just hopes Izuku is able to handle the realization of how the world views them. And keep working despite everyone telling him how futile his efforts are.
"Young Tokoyami," All Might says, towering over Tokoyami as he places the bronze medal around his neck. Giving him a short hug and pat on the back he takes a step back and then continues. "You've clearly got a lot of work to do before you can fully control that Quirk of yours, but it is powerful, so I'm sure you'll be able to protect and save a lot of people. Just don't become too reliant on it, alright?"
"Your words humble me, taming the darkness in my soul is my burden and I will be sure to conquer it," Tokoyami nods politely.
"Uh...right," All Might fake coughs then quickly moves on to the silver medal, not sure how to respond to the little edgelord.
'Teens are so weird these days...' he thinks to himself while approaching Bakugo.
"Young Bakugo," All Might doesn't see the boy look up to even acknowledge him, and wisely decides to just give him a short hug before putting the medal around his neck, and still he doesn't respond. "Clearly winning means a lot to you, and I don't disagree with your views on what it means to be a hero. Always giving your all to save as many people as possible, to always win...but the sad reality is we as people can only do so much. Part of growing is to accept what you can't do, and perfect the things you can..."
Bakugo just stands there like a statue as All Might takes the gold medal and moves over to Horizon, only giving the boy a pat on the shoulder.
"Horizon, and in full Hero Costume no less," he chuckles, seeing the boy in his suit and holding the sword. "You truly do make being perfect look easy. Your presence has a profound effect on your peers, forcing them to improve just to keep up, all while you yourself are always improving. But being a hero isn't only about fighting and saving, it's also about this," All Might puts a hand over his own heart. "How you make people feel in here, words are a powerful thing, especially yours. You've got everything else down enough to already be a top pro, I have no doubt when you understand how to inspire people that my era will officially be over..."
The entire stadium seems to hold the same breath, a deathly silence befalls everyone as All Might gently place the gold medal around Horizon's neck.
As if passing the torch, from one Symbol of Peace, to the next...
While everyone looked at the scene with stars in their eyes, feeling safe knowing that All Might was teaching to prepare someone like Horizon as his successor, beneath his visor a set of completely different thoughts were swirling.
'Huh, so the medal is real gold,' he first thought. With it handing in the middle of his chest he gave it a quick scan. '500 grams of solid gold...in today's prices that's like $25,000. Nezu really has more money than he knows what to do with, well, me too I suppose.'
Then he looks around at all the people staring at him, as if they'd seen a second lifeline. All their hope for the next generation, the generation without All Might.
And he rolled his eyes.
'This is way too fucking easy, these worthless people are so desperate for someone to solve all their problems for them that they'll just throat the first cock that they think can do it...pathetic, but whatever, works for me...'
---30 Minutes Later...
Now back in his full school uniform Horizon sits at his desk in the 1A homeroom under the golden light of the setting sun. Everyone else was still changing and getting cleaned up so naturally he has some time to himself.
He looks at the gold medal still around his neck for a moment, playing with it in his left hand as he takes out his phone with the other.
Quickly finding the best pictures people took during the sports festival and posting them to his 'Yay!' profile, now at 70 Million followers.
One picture for each of his best moments, and there was no lack of options since everyone had eyes and cameras on him.
The first was him grabbing the banner at the finish line of the Obstacle Race, his first win of the day.
The second was him sitting on his classroom chair atop a floating stone, playing a game on his phone while everyone else competes in the Cavalry Game, his second win.
Then there were his personal favorites, the pictures from the fights.
Him holding Monoma and healing him.
Him standing casually and looking up at Shinso, who was doubled over a thin cement pillar that suddenly rose from the floor and knocked the wind out of him.
The picture of Horizon looking down on Shoto, holding the beating heart in his hand, that was his second favorite.
Buts his true favorite...that had to be him standing in a crater with Bakugo on his hands and knees groveling at his feet, and his foot firmly on Bakugo's head keeping him under his boot, right where he belongs.
And the final pictures he posted in this collection, one of All Might giving him the medal, and a full shot of him in Hero Costume wearing the medal, perfect for the hero-worshipping sheep.
A few moments later and their other students enter, all aside from Shoto and Iida.
Horizon keeps playing with his medal as everyone silently enters and takes their seats, suppressing their excitement at just finishing their first sports festival since Eraser was one step behind them, now at the front of the room.
"Alright listen up," Eraser says, drawing all eyes toward himself. "Good work out there, it should be obvious where you have to improve so just keep working at it. You've got the next two days off so I'll see you all here Wednesday morning, but then we should have all the internship offers sorted out, dismissed," he quickly shuffles out of the room.
The moment the door shuts behind Eraser the entire class erupts like a powder keg of excitement, everyone bombarding each other with questions.
And while all of this was going on, small conversations starting up, and people throwing praise and compliments at Horizon from all sides.
He sees a small Hero News alert on his phone, one that would lead to a complete change in the future of UA, and especially class 1A forever.
'Hero Killer Stain strikes again! Claiming his 70th victim! The Number 19 Pro Hero found dead in Hosu City hours ago, the hero Inginium is no more...'
END CHAPTER---
Volume 3 complete, please leave a review if you can. All speculation for the future of this story is welcomed. And yes Tensei Iida is dead.
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