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CHAPTER START---
"So did you come here with a date, or are you available tonight?" An older man asks.
He had a head of salt and pepper hair with a matching mustache, a well-tailored suit, like every man in this massive ballroom, and was surely respected in whatever field he worked in.
But even as he hovers above the beautiful woman in front of him, he was anything but appealing or refined, the way he clearly drank in her appearance with his eyes.
Viewing her as a piece of meat.
Worse, an easy to get piece of meat.
But Ms. Midnight was used to these looks, even as tonight she's Nemuri Kayama.
She gives him a polite smile and takes a sip of her champagne, and he takes a moment to keep staring at her.
Her dark purple gown, deep neckline barely showing any cleavage, long gloves, a matching and fur-lined scarf.
Her outfit was much more conservative than what she usually wears out as Ms. Midnight, but all the men and women here knew exactly what hid beneath it.
Her Hero Costume made sure the world knows exactly what her body offers.
"Sorry but I'm only here on business, maybe some other time," she says politely before sauntering off, her habit of swaying her hips making his eyes track her across the room.
'So shameless,' she thinks, recalling the wedding ring on his finger, and his wife who was chatting across the room.
Contrary to what the media and people may believe, she actually hasn't had more than a handful of partners.
Her reputation keeps any men worth involving herself with at bay, quite the double-edged sword she's placed at her own throat.
Without her Hero Costume she wasn't easy to recognize, especially behind her regular glasses, but her would-be admirers would always spot her.
As yet another person takes the stage to give a speech she grabs a fresh drink and makes her way to the empty balcony.
Pushing open to door and feeling a cold winter breeze cash against her face, light snow falls onto Tokyo as she shuts the door behind her.
But the thankfully heated balcony wasn't unbearable, and happened to be entirely empty.
Looking up she sees the entire top half of the large skyscraper this ballroom is in looming above, and looking around there are some shorter buildings around them.
But the other skyscrapers block the true beauty of the Tokyo Skyline at this time of year.
All the Christmas decorations and lights were hidden away by monuments of glass and concrete.
Taking out a phone she sees a text from her manager, asking how the night is going, but she doesn't bother to respond.
Simply sipping her champagne and waiting for the night to be over.
After a few minutes, she hears a chorus of people trying to speak over each other.
Quickly turning around she sees a younger man step onto the balcony and close the door behind him before the crowd could enter.
A larger man steps between the crowd and the door, preventing them from following him outside, and he sighs in relief.
He turns around and gives an unapologetic smile, "Sorry about that, they're just...annoying."
"That's one way to put it," she nods and goes back to looking at the street below.
Glancing back she sees the man taking a phone call and realizes that's why he had to get away from the crowd.
Minutes later, as she's nearly finishing her drink she suddenly feels a gentle tap on her shoulder, and looks back to see him offering his jacket.
"Avoiding annoying people probably isn't worth freezing out here, at least not for the entire event."
As he's standing closer she gets a proper look at him, short dark hair, bright blue eyes, knuckle tattoos, and his suit was black and gold of all things.
Quite a strange person.
"Thank you," she says while allowing him to drape the jacket over her. "I didn't realize there were actual gentlemen at this event."
"There aren't," they both chuckle as he's joining her at the railing. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting your escape."
"You're the best company I've had all night, it's a welcomed change."
"Are the other guests that bad?"
"Well, I'm Ms. Midnight, so they think I'm just that easy."
Looking at the man she sees him staring at her, squinting as he observes her, "huh, never would have recognized you," he lies. "And I didn't think there would be any Pro Heroes here."
"Well, apparently whoever is running this event invested in the company that owns my fashion line and brand, so they thought it would be good if I said hello in person."
"You don't sound excited to meet him."
"Excited to meet some rich man who will expect me to act like a wh---" she cuts herself off. "To act unladylike, just because he has money...why would I ever be that."
"Well that's a relief," he says. "Finally a beautiful woman here that isn't trying to seduce me for money," he laughs.
"Seduce you?" Midnight turns to look at him, only getting a mischievous grin. Then it slowly dawns on her, "Oh, you're Law Matani..."
"The one and only, and what should I call you?"
"So you aren't mad about---"
"---There isn't anything to be mad about, and honestly it's a nice change from people always trying to flatter me."
She visibly relaxes at that, "well, I'm Nemuri Kayama, Pro Hero Ms. Midnight, so you can call me Ms. Midnight."
"Mmm, no," he shakes his head. "I don't really care for Ms. Midnight, so I'll call you 'Nemuri', and you can call me 'Law', sounds fair?"
Nemuri isn't quite sure how to react to that, so she just nods, "Yes, I suppose that sounds fair."
They share a comfortable moment of silence just observing the streets below.
Then she speaks, "So were people hounding you for money, is that why you ran away?"
"Pretty much, that's always the case, how about you, Nemuri?"
Nemui takes a sip of her drink, almost finishing it. "My reputation as Ms. Midnight isn't exactly, flattering. So men only come around for one thing, and they expect it to be easy."
"Well, I can somewhat relate," he raises his hand to show her the tattoos. "People always think I'm some kind of Yakuza or Mafia boss. The reputations we chose define how the world sees us, and it seems like we've both chosen a bit...prematurely."
"I'll drink to that," Nemuri down the rest of her drink. "And now every day I can't stop thinking about it, what a life, right?"
"Indeed," Law says. "I assumed it started as a publicity stunt maybe, something to separate you from other young aspiring female Pro Heroes, was it?"
"Not exactly," Nemuri gathers her thoughts for a moment. "Pro Heroes, we aren't just about punching villains in the face..."
Law raises a brow at that.
"At least for me, part of it is inspiring the other people, and younger generations. So naturally I chose to most extreme aspect I could, just to show people that no matter what you are, you shouldn't let society shame you and keep you caged.
You owe it to yourself to be yourself...but the message got a bit lost along the way. Now I'm just 'Ms. Midnight the dominatrix Pro Hero', which was never the intention."
"People find it hard to hear and focus on a message when a body like yours is almost naked in front of them," he says jokingly. "But I see what you mean, you tried to make yourself a martyr, it just got the wrong message across."
Nemuri relaxes, and gives him a softer smile, finally getting that invisible weight off her chest, finally feeling like someone understands.
After a few more minutes of surprisingly deep conversation, Law checks his watch, then they both look over at the gathered crows waiting for him to enter the main room again.
"Your money-hungry public awaits," Nemuri jokes.
"Yes, but, it's New Year's Eve, so how about we actually get a nice view."
Nemuri raises a brow at that, "what are you saying?"
He offers her his hand, "How about a simple deal, you save me from the masses as any Pro Hero would, and we'll go up to my penthouse where you can actually enjoy the skyline, and the fireworks that are about to start..."
Nemuri looks around at all the buildings still looming over them, then at the man she's become fast friends with.
And with no further hesitation, she takes his hand. Onto an adventure of breaking in the new year with her new friend...
END CHAPTER---
Next up, Volume 8-Horizon: Ascension
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (Unlimited chapters ahead)
CHAPTER START---
---Friday, January 5th, 2316, 10 AM...
"I have some more people here!" Kamui Woods yells out as he reaches out, slowly extending his wooden limbs like twisting roots to invade the rubble.
Overnight an entire city on the northeast coast of Japan was hit by a typhoon. The winds raged to such an extent that the nearby beach was overtaken by the sea.
Waves reaching dozens of meters high flooded the city after obliterating the sea wall, ripping homes apart and tearing down massive buildings.
Now they stand in the rubble and carnage, looking for trapped people and recovering corpses.
Kilometers of destruction and death that most had no chance of surviving, much less stopping.
As Kamui Woods parts the rubble he sees an older man, holding what appears to be his granddaughter.
Narrowing his eyes he focuses, slowing the progress of his branches to avoid destabilizing the house they were trapped under.
With each movement, he sees the fear in their eyes, up to their knees in filthy brackish water that tried to drown them hours ago.
"It's ok, the Pro Heroes are here, a lot of us," Kamui Woods says as he slowly wraps the branches around them. "We'll get you to safety, and Wash will get you cleaned up and give you something to eat, sounds good right?"
The older man nods but the girl just keeps shivering, lips already blue and skin rather pale.
"I'll get you and your grandpa out of here," Kamui Woods says as he slowly removes them from beneath the rubble.
But as he gets them out safely he doesn't let it collapse, terrified of the idea that someone else could be under there.
He holds them up with his branches and begins walking through the devastation, ankle-deep in thick mud and water.
Both the man and little girl look around in horror at the surroundings.
The city they've lived in their whole lives, is entirely gone. Pieces of houses and broken buildings were scattered about.
Teams of Pro Heroes and rescue workers as far and wide as their eyes could see, constantly working to rescue anyone they could.
Even skyscrapers were reduced to loose rubble by the freak typhoon last night.
Seeing the look in their eyes Kamui Woods ignores the scent of salt, blood, concrete, and mud. Ignores his aching feet and waterlogged boots, and tries to distract them.
"Once I get you and your granddaughter to safety you'll get to dry off and eat something," he gestures to the edge of the city where an army of white tents was.
"She's not my granddaughter," the man says. "I just saw her floating away and grabbed her..."
"Oh..." Kamui Woods feels his heart break, yet again, for what felt like the millionth time today. "Well, please stay close to her until we find her family."
"I will," the man says.
While walking through the disaster site Kamui Woods picks up some more survivors by extending his branches, allowing the other search and rescue teams to continue working instead of having to walk back.
"Kamui!" a deep and rough voice calls out from behind him.
He turns around to see Ectoplasm and Hound Dog approaching him.
"Didn't expect to see you two here, UA's security team, but we need all the help we can get."
"School doesn't start till Monday, and our Quirks are good for this," Ectoplasm says while Hound Dog is already sniffing the air and listening for survivors.
"Did you bring anyone else?" Kamui Woods asks.
"He should be here soon," Ectoplasm says, understanding the importance of not mentioning Horizon by name.
"That's a relief."
"But until then, you're in charge of the search and rescue, so where do you want us?" Ectoplasm asks.
"Since you can work as a duo and go wherever Hound Dog's nose carries you, search wherever you want, focus on survivors of course, and take them to Wash when you get them."
"Got it," Ectoplasm immediately begins releasing white goo from his mouth, which becomes a small mob of clones.
As the clones spread out the help wherever they can, Hound Dog leads the main body to the nearest survivors.
Kamui Woods sighs and continues up to the hill beside the city where all the tents and survivors are gathered.
After passing the survivors off to Wash he's immediately approached by Ragdoll, who was holding a clipboard.
"Kamui," she gets his attention, nodding for him to follow her a few dozen meters away from where people are being treated.
Standing on a hill overlooking the destroyed city she stops with him to take in the destruction once more.
"We have a serious problem," Ragdoll says. While speaking her eyes were locked onto the city, tracking all the present Pro Heroes, including her friends Tiger and Mandalay.
"Another one?"
"One of the roads to this city collapsed, there was a landslide."
"What about the boats bringing help?"
"They won't be here until this afternoon, that typhoon tore up the entire coast, and the seas are still rough."
Kamui takes an annoyed breath, "So supplies will be delayed even more, damn it."
"They got close, if we could send some Pros out there maybe we could get some of the lighter supplies, these people really need it."
"The team we sent to clear up the rivers should be back soon, that's our most conventional muscle," Kamui Woods says, then sees Ectoplasm's clones moving about, and remember something. "Actually, tell the people bringing supplies to stay where they are, I'll send someone to get them."
Ragdoll looks confused for a moment, then realization dawns on her. "I see, alright, I'll tell them. Aside from that the first five zones are clear of survivors."
"Good, that just leaves 20 more..."
After discussing where the new supplies and tents should be placed, Ragdoll leaves Kamui Woods alone on the hill.
And he takes this precious moment to steady his own thoughts, looking out at all the people who expected him to take charge and have all these answers.
'So this is what being a Top Pro Hero is really like huh...' he questions if he would have tried to get so hard to be here, if he knew from the start how heavy this pressure would feel.
"Hey boss man, how ya doing?"
Kamui Woods doesn't react as Mt. Lady saunters up beside him and leans against his shoulder.
"I've been better," he says. "Did your team manage to clear all the rivers, bridges and roads?"
He looks down at her, seeing she's almost entirely covered in mud.
"Yeah, and we even found some...unfortunate people in the mud."
"Oh, I see," both Pro Heroes tune out the world for a moment and simply enjoy each others company.
And even as the familiar sounds of rescue and news helicopters flying above reaches them, they don't part.
Too tired to care if people learn about their not-so-secret relationship.
"What do you need me to do?" Mt. Lady asks a few moments later.
Kamui Woods takes out his phone and begins sending a text, "go check in with Ragdoll and clear a spot for the new trucks and busses to setup the supplies we have incoming."
"Alright," Mt. Lady stretches a bit. "Heroes never rest huh, time to get back to work."
After she walks off a few Pro Heroes and first responders rush over to Kamui Woods, and more than anything he wishes there was a higher ranking Pro Hero here.
But until then, he's the one everyone expects to take control of this situation.
Even now there were already pictures and articles reported by the present news crews scattered about the scene in circulation. All pushing him forward as a great Pro Hero and leader, but he had bigger things to worry about than popularity right now.
As the minutes go by, adding more and more hours to the clock.
The pile of corpses grows, thankfully dwarfed by the number of survivors.
But he could see the toll it took on their morale.
Pro Heroes and civilians alike were walking around with tired and saddened looks on their faces, trying their best to put on fake smiles to keep everyone's spirits up.
'So this is what its really like not having All Might, to not have that ridiculous smile around all the time...' most of the people realize.
Before noon however, while helping Mt. Lady and a few others clear a spot to receive more aid and personnel, a sudden wave to cheers and excitement resounded across the medical area.
The Pro Heroes looked up at the hill, trying to spot the commotion, only the see dozens of objects descending from the sky.
As if descending from the heavens, a fleet of trucks and busses slowly lowers onto the disaster site.
Many of the Pro Heroes are on guard until Kamui Woods raises a hand, and they relax as they see Horizon standing atop one of the busses.
Setting them all down in the clearing, much to the relief of the drivers and medical professionals on board, he hops off the roof and is caught by his Hoverboard which he stands on.
A wave of relief washes over the camp as they take in Horizon's appearance, now feeling as if this disaster was already handled.
The news crews immediately aim their cameras and microphones at the duo as they begin talking.
"Sorry I'm late," Horizon says.
"I'm just glad you're here, and a bit surprised you could get permission to leave Tokyo so easily," Kamui Woods says. "Now, can you please take over already, everyone is tired and our morale was getting low before you got here."
"Nothing could stop me from coming here to help, so you don't need to worry anymore, I am here," Horizon waves at the survivors being treated under tents as he floats outward, over the destroyed city. "Good call with me passing by to bring the convoy of supplies, now get everyone ready to provide first aid, I'll warp everyone to safety..."
"We're already ready!" Kamui Woods yells out as Horizon flies forward.
"Good," Horizon says as he raises both hands, palms facing downward.
ROOM!
He opens a new Room, 28km wide, enough to envelop this small city.
SCAN!
His mind is instantly flooded with information, every person and object down to the size of a single finger is imprinted perfectly into his mind. Information constantly being updated in real time as it all moves.
He expects mental feedback, expects a headache, expects a nosebleed.
But nothing happens.
'Hmm, I'm closer than I thought...' he thinks as locations of survivors and corpses appear in his mind.
SHAMBLES!
Suddenly he begins warping the survivors, swapping them with pieces of rubble close to the medical area, where people were waiting anxiously to attend to them.
Over the next few minutes, thousands of people would be saved with seemingly absolute ease.
A job that would take hundreds of people days to do, and it was handled with effectively the wave of a hand.
Before long Horizon began moving to the medical tents to assist with aid, and Kamui Woods looked around to see smiles everywhere.
Even in the face of such a disastrous and tragic event, his presence was enough to inspire a feeling of safety and hope.
This was what he, Kamui Woods, and no other current Pro Hero could do.
This is something he hasn't seen since All Might.
'You make it look so easy kid...'
After only 9 months in the public eye, Horizon is already revered as a Top Pro Hero, placed on a pedestal above most if not all the Fully Licensed Pro Heroes in Japan.
All while he only had access to the most basic understanding on his Quirk, of himself.
All while his Ascension to become fully realized, was 65 days away...
END CHAPTER---
This is the first chapter of VOLUME 8-HORIZON: Ascension.
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