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CHAPTER START---
---11:00 PM, Minato Tokyo...
Outside the most popular nightclub in Tokyo -largely because the All Might Hero Agency is only a few kilometers away-, swarms of people are lined up and waiting to enter.
The sound of muffled music echoes through the building and into the street. Beautiful women as far as your eyes could see, and twice as many horny men trying to get their attention.
But all eyes shift to the road as three jet-black armored Rolls Royce SUVs show up. All have gold accents, with an intricate gold heart on the hood ornament.
The convoy stops and security personnel exit the lead and rear vehicles, moving to quickly open the door of the main vehicle. And out steps Law Matani.
His family crest on the hood ornament, the intricate hearts he reserves for making a statement and drawing all eyes to him.
His suit is a simple and black, well-fitting, golden shirt with the top button undone to show off the very top of his chest tattoo. A black and gold Rolex on his wrist, keeping his family colors alive.
Everyone immediately saw him, and after snapping out of it they took a good look at his face. While he was tall and well built, not uncommon in the age of Quirks, his face still looked a bit too young to be in a place like this.
But when he walked up to the bouncers with his four bodyguards around him as the others went to park, they simply let him through without raising a single brow.
The moment they entered the club it felt as if he was hit by what he assumed Jiro's attacks felt like. Music so loud that he could barely hear himself think.
Walking through the main walkway he sees a massive dancefloor ahead of him. Dim lights, and harmless laser shows on the ceiling. A large bar off to the side. Off to the perimeter of this room were a few booths with tables, filled with people having a good time and enjoying their Saturday night.
But while most girls here would be impressed by men having a table, Law was playing on a whole other level now, he has an image to uphold after all.
So he takes a hard left and walks past another pair of bouncers. They open a glass door leading up a short staircase, and the moment he and his security are inside the door shuts behind them, and the music goes from deafening to low and muffled. Barely background noise.
Walking up the stairs they find themselves in what could be mistaken for an entirely different business. A high-class lounge area, with large soft seats. A smaller bar with an older gentleman mixing the drinks. And of course, women in short skirts walking around serving them.
Looking around Law quickly finds his target, a middle-aged Japanese man. Bald head and thin, completely unremarkable on first impression. A simple black and white suit and silver watch that didn't stand out in this room.
Looking around he sees a few celebrities and personalities, but he walked right over to the man in question.
"Mister Matani," the man gets up and greets him with a smile before he bows.
Law gives him a much shorter bow, closer to being a simple nod. "Mister Kito, I hope you're having a good night."
"It would be impossible not to after that last phone call we had," the man gestures for them both to sit as the security stands a few feet away, giving them privacy but still keeping an eye on Law.
Law sits before Kito joins him. "Well I'm just glad to finally meet you in person," Law says.
"Well you've been buying businesses from me all across Japan," Mister Kito says. "This one was more of my son's project originally, but when you told me you'd be in Tokyo and were coming here, I just knew I had to come meet you. You haven't been to any of the others you bought."
"Well, I'm always working, I'm sure you know how it is. Working so hard to keep your family strong that you don't get to spend much time with them or even for yourself."
Mister Kito nods, giving Law a look of sympathy. "Young and dutiful, a good man. But I must ask something..."
"Oh, what might that be?" Law asks.
As Mister Kito opens his mouth to respond, two young women approach the table with trays in their hands. One has a dark wine bottle and two glasses, while the other has what's clearly a cigar box.
The women set the table and pour the drinks before quickly leaving. "Awamori, I always drink this to bless any business I do, it has never failed me, and cigars," Mister Kito gestures to the glasses.
"Well, to good fortune," Law shares a drink with the man, feeling the clear rice wine trying to burn his throat on the way down.
"It also fuels my Quirk," Mister Kito says, reaching into the cigar box and taking out two cigars. Cutting them and then snapping his fingers, a small candle flame appeared above his thumb. As he's lighting the cigars he chuckles, "not much in the way of fighting villains, but I'm always ready to have a cigar, a bad habit I picked up some from business partners abroad...just don't tell my wife," he chuckles.
Law laughs and takes his cigar, taking a puff of it and enjoying the vanilla scent it gave off. "My lips are sealed, and as for the flame, well, right now I think that's exactly the right Quirk. So, what did you want to ask me?"
"Oh, right," Mister Kito leans back and puffs his cigar. "I did some research, called some friends. You've been buying restaurants, bars, lounges, buildings, and all kinds of businesses. But you never rebrand them under the Matani name.
You simply leave them be, and in some cases where you have the option to buy a majority, you only buy roughly 40% of the business. I'm curious about why that is, you could be making a lot more money, and I know some people that are more than willing to help you find more things to buy."
"Well, it's not about the money honestly," Law admits. "And I'd love to talk to your friends about expanding my reach, because that's what it's all about. I want influence as far and wide as possible. Owning 40% of a business is enough where you can use that business whenever you want, but you don't have to attend meetings, at least not in my case.
I want an easy life where my money works for me, and allows me access to things at a moment's notice. Restaurants, clubs, bars, lounges, hotels, everything. I've got the capital, I might as well use it," Law shrugs.
Mister Kito smiles and nods, realizing Law wasn't a threat, just another young man who wants the freedom to do whatever he wants. He was no threat to Mister Kito and his friends that wanted an ironclad grip on the economy.
"I believe my friends are in perfect positions to work with you Mister Matani. They can get you into the highest level of many businesses, and since you don't want a controlling interest, it will be much easier."
"Perfect..."
In truth Law somewhat had to do this. Not for any economical reason, but just so he could go wherever and do whatever without people having to check who he was. It was a way to get Law Matani more famous and separate him from Horizon.
Horizon who will never be putting his name down as the owner of any property. Horizon who doesn't drive or have a car, or a house. Horizon who isn't a playboy that looks like he's in a gang, knuckle tattoos and all.
Law Matani and Horizon are so far apart that you'd never even believe they'd get along, much less be the same person.
Because how could the future Symbol Of Peace, look and act like a mob boss under his Hero Costume?
Thankfully at least since Swiss Vault never uses names they could use the same accounts to purchase things since it's so heavily insulated, mostly by Nezu himself. So he didn't have to sacrifice too much of his lifestyle as Horizon.
After a few more minutes of exchanging information and casual chatter, Mister Kito leaves Law to enjoy the night, and runs off to spend some time with his mistress.
Finishing up his drink and cigar Law gets up, and makes a post on his Law Matani 'Yay!' account -which currently has 400k Followers, nothing compared to Horizon's 80 Million-, to show the world how flashy his life is, further dividing himself from Horizon. Then walks over to the glass wall separating them from the dance floor on the ground floor.
One-way glass so he could look down at everyone without them even knowing he was there. And looking down he saw exactly what he wanted.
He spots a group of four girls standing at the edge of the dance floor, with no guys in their group.
Two girls are cute, but only human. Meaning they simply looked like cute Japanese girls, boring and easy to find. But the other two...they were truly quirky.
One had bright green skin and orange eyes, long black hair on her head. Short and slender but she has curves in just the right places.
The other looked like a regular Japanese girl, except she had ram horns on her head and white curly hair. She was also tall, 183cm -6ft-, but her body was...in a word, stacked.
'A sheep Quirk...' Law assumes.
Even in this day and age some people avoid begin intimate with Mutant Type Quirk users, but Law was already bored of normal, he enjoys unique experiences...and that includes his women.
Understanding this he plays it to his advantage, looking about the club until he finds something he can use.
A table of four guys that seem to just be enjoying drinks, two girls with them. Snapping his fingers one of the servers walks over to him, seeing him looking down at the dance floor. The woman was no taller than Tsu, causing her to stand a bit further away rather than crane her neck to look up at him.
"Do you see those guys there?" He points to the table of guys.
"Yes sir."
"Good, I want you to tell them, that I'm sending two girls over to their table. And those girls are gonna think that they bought them champagne, it's on the house."
"Sir?" the woman looks confused by this.
"I'm trying to help them impress some girls," Law says. Then points at the four girls. "Them, the two plain-looking ones, but when you tell the girls to go over to the guys, make sure you tell them only those two..."
The woman looks even more confused, but quickly hops to the task when he hands her a two thousand-dollar tip.
As Law sees the plan in motion he takes a quick walk down toward the four girls, leaving his security upstairs. Getting to them before they could get the message. Normally he'd just go talk to them, but he really wasn't feeling like putting in any effort during a conversation tonight. He'd just create a situation where they choose him.
Using his Quirk he feels the server now approaching the girls and gets to them before her, just barely.
"Hey ladies, you girls having a good time?" he says casually, just waiting for the server to get here.
Thankfully he's attractive so that makes things much easier, and he sees smiles all around, but instantly focuses on the two unique girls as they all make fast introductions, and the moment the girls are starting to loosen up around him.
"Excuse me," the server interrupts them, giving Law a brief glance. "You two ladies have been invited to a table across the dancefloor, your champagne bottles are waiting for you," she says to the ordinary girls.
Both their eyes lite up, and they turn to their friends.
"Only you two, sorry," she says to the girls, gesturing for the ordinary girls to follow her.
The two girls look conflicted, looking between their friends and the server, until Law speaks up.
"Hey it's ok, everyone likes champagne, in the meantime, the three of us will just be at my table upstairs," his suggestion gets both the Mutant girls smiling, and before he can even continue talking they're pouncing on the idea of ditching their ordinary friends.
His game plan was extraordinarily simple.
1-Set the bait, in this case, champagne.
2-Get rid of the girls he had no interest in, but he has to make it seem like it's their choice.
3-Get the Mutant girls to feel like they lost to their friends since they didn't get an invite.
4-Invite the Mutant girls to his table which is of higher perceived status than the table downstairs, therefore putting them above their friends.
In this case, it worked because from his experience, women love feeling wanted...and women especially love feeling wanted above other women.
Normally he could just talk his way into this, but since he has the money and influence but none of the time, this was easier.
And that's how he got to where he is now. At his table upstairs, enjoying a drink with Mita, the tall girl with ram horns. And Toko, the girl with neon green skin. Both wore short dresses to show off their goods.
"So I've been wondering, how old are you?" Mita asks, narrowing her eyes at Law as he takes a sip of his drink.
"How old do I look?"
"You can't be older than...eighteen," Toko says.
Law laughs and gives them a cocky smirk. "Clubs don't allow anyone under 20 inside, but if you must know. It's my Quirk, keeps me looking youthful...also really makes it difficult for women to take me seriously since they prefer older men..."
"That's amazing, I wish I had that Quirk," Toko says.
"Well if you play your cards right tonight, your kids could have it."
"Ach!" Mita chokes on her drink while Toko just starts laughing.
A joke that only works if they find you attractive, otherwise it could get you into trouble.
"So do you girls live around here?" Law asks. "I'm actually not from Tokyo at all, just visiting for a week. Maybe we can keep in touch for a bit."
"Yeah we work at the aquarium," Mita says.
"Yeah," Toko nods along. "So are you here on vacation or business?"
"Eh, clearly a little bit of both. But my job is really boring..."
"Really?" Toko asks. "With all the tattoos and how cocky you are...I guessed crime family."
"Me too," Mita admits.
Law laughs at that. "So you thought I was in the Yakuza or something and still followed me up here?"
Both women look at each other, then nervously look at Law.
"Relax I'm not in anything like that. My career isn't really exciting so I try not to talk about it but...I'm in banking."
Toko moves a bit closer to him, pressing her shoulder against his arm, and takes his hand, raising it to rub a thumb over his knuckle tattoos.
"Well...would you believe me if I said it's high-risk banking?"
After a few more drinks and some time talking about nonsense, Law finally decides it's time to close the deal, he had to go meet Endeavor tomorrow after all.
"You know I'd love to keep talking but, the music here is really loud," an obvious hint that he just wanted to get out of here since they could barely hear the music. "How about we finish our drinks at my place, and my bar has what I need to show you my signature drink..."
Both women share a look, and at once they decide that the night has only just begun...
END CHAPTER---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene (up to 30 chapters ahead)
CHAPTER START---
---6 AM...
Walking through the halls of his Hero Agency, Endeavor has a smirk on his face as he moves toward his office. Leaving his personal chambers after his morning workout and shower, he's excited for Shoto's arrival in a few hours.
He'd finally get to show his son exactly what kind of Hero he is. The result of a lifetime of hard work and dedication. He hopes that just maybe Shoto would be impressed and soften up to him.
Getting to the top floor Endeavor opens the door to his office, and his mood immediately sours.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asks.
His office was absolutely massive and high-end, with two couches with a coffee table between them. His desk is off to the side with a wall behind it. And to the right of his desk was a glass wall overlooking Tokyo.
Currently, Horizon was sitting on one of the couches scrolling through his phone, head nodding along to the music being played into his visor. Sword leaning against the couch at his side.
Tapping his phone a few times he puts it down and looks over at the furious Endeavor. "I was just checking my post. People are excited, I posted a picture in here to announce my internship."
Endeavor stomps over to him and glares down at Horizon, "I mean, what are you doing in my office, in my building? How did you get inside?"
"Uh...I can warp, obviously. What you think I need doors, like a peasant?"
Endeavor wants to yell at the boy, but instead, he takes a deep breath and the flames on his shoulders and face dissipate.
Without a word he moves to sit opposite Horizon and just silently stares at him, trying to figure out how to approach this situation.
"Is Shoto here already?" Endeavor asks.
"Nah he's probably just getting ready for UA, I took my Hero Costume and spent the night in Tokyo."
"You aren't supposed to have your Hero Costume outside of school under normal circumstances like that," Endeavor narrows his eyes at Horizon.
"So?"
Endeavor sighs, expecting this to be difficult but already getting sick of the attitude. "Do you want tea? Can you drink tea?" he wasn't sure what the deal was with Horizons visor.
"I can, but I don't. I'm good for now," Horizon says. "So, can we just get to the point please? You never offer students internships or work studies. Shoto is obvious because it's your kid, but why me?"
"Hmm, I appreciate that you don't like small talk," Endeavor admits. "The reason I extended an offer to you is because, I want to ask you some Questions."
"My Quirk is none of your business."
"Tch, not about that, about your parents..."
"Mmm," Horizon growls lowly and sits up. "What, you didn't learn from what happened to Shoto? Are all the Todorokis gonna need me to teach them this lesson?"
"I want to know how they succeeded where I failed," Endeavor says quickly, causing Horizon to pause for a moment then leaned back into the couch.
"Ok... you have my attention, explain yourself."
"I assume Shoto told you about...my mistakes."
"Mistakes? You mean the child neglect, child abuse, domestic abuse, Quirk marriage, Quirk breeding, all that shit?"
Endeavor looks ashamed, eyes dropping down to the table between them. "Yes, my mistakes."
"Ok, what about them?" Horizon asks casually, as if they were talking about the weather.
This confuses Endeavor, he'd expected hate and anger, not, nonchalance. "You...aren't angry?"
"Huh, why would I be angry? Not my family, not my problem. Who gives a fuck what you do in your house," Horizon shrugs.
"That...is concerning."
"It's more concerning that the #2 Hero is such a shitty dad, so you're in no position to judge anyone here."
Endeavor nods in agreement.
"And if you brought me here for family therapy, sorry but I'm not that kind of doctor. I deal in real medicine, not make-believe bullshit."
"Therapy is real."
"For real pussies is what you mean," Horizon scoffs. "If you've got problems just get over it."
Endeavor blinks a few times, taking a moment to really wrap his mind around what kind of person he was currently talking to. Not at all liking the idea of someone so powerful with this kind of mentality. But as Horizon said, he's in no situation to be judging anyone, so he just lets it go.
"I want to know how you were raised," Endeavor says in a serious voice, getting them on topic. "Shoto was born and raised to be the absolute strongest, but in raising and training him, I destroyed my family.
I allowed my ambition to burn everything and everyone around me, they all hate me, I hate me, for what I've done. For all I didn't do.
I want...I want to atone. I don't think I want them to forgive me, I don't think I can be forgiven. But I'd at least like for them all to be together, even if it is without me."
"Very touching I'm sure," Horizon rolls his eyes beneath the visor. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"You."
"Me?"
"When I saw you defeat Shoto, when I heard about your Quirk. I realized it was all a pointless ambition of mine. And when I thought Shoto died...I didn't know what to do. I'd never felt so...so powerless. I wanted nothing more than to get a second chance, to fix everything I did to my family. And then you put him back together, and I got my second chance."
Horizon chuckles at that, causing Endeavor to glare at him. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that...I beat Shoto so bad you got character development," another chorus of chuckles.
"Can you help me or not!" Endeavor yells, flames erupting on him again, now pissed off. "Your parents trained you to be powerful, yet you always speak of them with love, how?"
"Alright alright," Horizon raises his hands in surrender. "But I need something from you."
"Huh?"
"Work studies, at your agency."
Endeavor calms down, now more professional as they discuss business. "Hmm, my Hero Agency is the most successful in Japan, working here you'd likely be able to make more money than anywhere else, even as a student."
"Don't care about the money. A standard contract is fine," Horizon says. "I've got more money than I know what to do with already. I just need to work at the best agency, under the best hero. Most of my work will be independent after I learn how you operate."
Endeavor raises a brow at that. "Shouldn't you be trying to get All Might to teach you?"
"I need someone skillful, not a meathead that's just born strong. You're my gold standard for Pro Heroes, you're the only option for me."
Endeavor smiles at that, hearing someone actually acknowledge his skill and hard work instead of just gawking at All Might's raw power. "Alright, but you'll need to get your Provisional License first, so the contract will have to wait until next year."
"June actually," Horizon says. "I'll be taking the exam early, everyone else has to wait a bit longer."
"Hmm, I see, you've got yourself a deal," Endeavor leans forward and shakes his hand.
This was everything Horizon needed. A spot in a well-connected agency that gets a lot of big cases, he'd get Hero Network access from Nezu, then he can start resolving incidents and solving cases solo after he figures out how Endeavor operates and adapts his style.
"Ok," Horizon starts, and Endeavor focuses on not missing a single word. "From what I understand you basically made a kid and forced him to be a hero and it destroyed your family. I don't know how to fix it, but a major difference that my parents did is that they didn't force me to do anything."
"What?"
"When my Quirk first manifested, we thought it was a dud, a completely useless Quirk. I was crying, and my dad offered to teach me medicine. He knew I was hoping for a Quirk like his so I could help out in the clinic.
I asked him to teach me, so all the stress and studying I had to deal with, it was all my choice.
A few weeks later I asked mom to teach me how to take care of myself, to be an adventurer like her. I wanted to help her out one day, so she began teaching me.
I could have just decided to do nothing and be nothing...maybe things would have turned out better that way.
But I chose to learn from them. They would have loved me either way. From the moment I was born I was already perfect in their eyes, because I'm their son, and that will always be enough. True unconditional love, I'll never get that anywhere else.
But I chose to live a life of hard work and pain, I chose to learn everything they knew and take it to heights unimagined. I chose to become Horizon. It was all my choice.
You removed the option for anyone in your family to choose, you forced your dream onto them. How could they ever not hate you for that?
Obviously, there is a lot more to it than that, but this is just the main difference I see, because I imagine many of the harsh, painful lessons my parents taught me, were a lot worse than what you did. Partly because they knew I could just heal myself. But I asked for it so that's on me.
But I'd imagine it helped a lot that, well...I'm not a pussy," he shrugs. "Anyway, that's my take on it."
"I see," Endeavor rubs his chin, deep in thought. "I have much to think about. As for your internship. I'll have to leave you in the care of my head sidekick Burnin, Shoto needs help controlling his fire so that's what I'll be focusing on with him for a while. We won't be leaving the gym here, you and Burnin will operate as usual for this agency."
"Sounds perfect."
"Good, I'll have Burnin show you to your room later...and teach you to use doors. Don't just warp into rooms like you did earlier."
"People who can warp, should warp. I don't tell you not to have those ridiculous flames on your shoulder and face...serious, a flame mustache, really?"
"My Quirk use isn't illegal, and my flames don't look ridiculous!"
END CHAPTER---
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