บท 288: CHAPTER 282(The People Of Japan VS Horizon)
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CHAPTER START---
--- 8 AM, Tokyo...
Sitting in the back of an armored SUV, Horizon is wearing his Hero Costume, without Scalpel.He relaxes in the luxurious seat and just watches out the heavily tinted window, seeing the empty buildings and streets on the other side of the glass.
'All of this, for you,' he looks down at his Provisional Hero License, floating above his palm, above his hand that was resting on his lap, slowly rotating in place.
'I lose you, and I lose everything,' Horizon thinks as he looks back out the window. 'Or maybe I lose the chains on me and regain my freedom…what would you want for me?' he asks himself, questioning what his parents would be telling him right now.
'Forget about us and live for yourself, we love you no matter what happens,' Horizon thinks. 'They'd probably say something like that, no matter how many times I tell them I'd never give up.'
Horizon looks back at the license, and commands it to hover just a bit higher above his palm.
'Maybe I'm a terrible son, for actually wanting to listen to that stupid request,' he thinks, closing his eyes and recalling the last time he spoke to them. 'But then, why don't I feel like shit for thinking like that, what the hell is wrong with me?!'
"You should stop doing that," Nezu's voice snaps him out of his own thoughts.
"What?" he looks over to see Nezu typing away on his phone, briefcase at his side on the seat.
"Using your Quirk, it'll make people nervous," Nezu says. "You haven't lost the privilege to do that but best not to make people more scared than they already are, don't you think?"
Horizon sighs and holds the license between his fingers, "sorry just, habit…"
"I know, you're nervous, it's ok to be scared sometimes," Nezu says.
"Fear prevents action and focus," Horizon says.
Nezu shakes his head, "one last piece of advice, at least try to appear relatable and human when we're inside."
"I'll do my best."
"You're Horizon, that'll be more than enough I'm sure."
A few minutes later as they're being driven further to the courthouse Nezu receives a call from President Pantu.
"We have a problem," Pantu says.
"Wait till we're face to face," Nezu glances at the glass dividing them from the agents driving the vehicle. "Is it unsolvable?"
"No, but it will certainly make things more difficult, how long until you two get here?"
"Less than five minutes."
"Good, I'll try to make some calls and solve this…"
While they were still being driven to the courthouse, hundreds of people had already crowded the steps and sidewalks around and opposite the building.
Chants and shouting were echoing through the empty city as their loud and emotional cries carried on the cool morning air.
Many of the people here were the bravest members of the press, mixed in were disgruntled and mournful civilians holding signs with Horizon's symbol crossed out.
And over half of these protesters were Pro Heroes in full costume, most of which were at the front of the crowd riling everyone up.
At the front of the crown is Mt. Lady, wielding a megaphone in her hand as she leads the chant.
Her Hero Costume was still somewhat damaged since the entire country had been focused on the Gigantomachy incident and helping the survivors and search parties.
Her waist was bandaged along with her right leg being in a cast, and her other arm was holding a sign protesting Horizon.
The roaring of the crowd only grows as they see the blackout tinted armored vehicle approaching, emotions begin running high as anger and fear builds in the crowd.
And as the vehicle stops, and the door opens.
For the first time since the Gigantomachy the public lays eyes on Horizon, and the entire world seems to go silent.
As if they were scared to breathe too loudly, they could hear their heartbeat drumming away in their ears.
And all the words they wanted to say to him got stuck in their throat as a sense of dread and fear filled the area.
Even Nezu's adorable body in his shoulder wasn't enough to draw their focus away from him, and not a single person was willing to move in his presence.
"Be nice," Nezu quietly mutters in his ear as Horizon slowly looks around.
"I am being nice," Horizon whispers back as he begins walking toward the entrance.
As he's halfways there Mt. Lady musters all her courage and cuts him off, standing in front of him to block his path.
Horizon doesn't speak, only looks down at her.
But he can feel everyone shifting nervously, terrified of the outcome.
"I hope you're here to plead guilty," Mt. Lady says, beads of sweat on her forehead, a quiver in her voice.
"I can't discuss that out here," Horizon says.
"Tch," she scrunches her face. "I hope I really do get called as a witness, because you need to be brought to justice for all the people you've killed!"
"I will accept whatever the verdict is," Horizon says as he simply steps around her, leaving the woman frozen in place.
As they step inside both of them notice all the security in the building has been replaced by Pro Heroes from the top 100 ranking.
One of which is Rabbit Hero Mirko, who anxiously taps her foot while she glares directly at Horizon, standing beside the door to the main chamber.
Horizon begins walking to their meeting room with Nezu on his shoulder, "so if I did go crazy, what was their plan, have all the top 100 Pro Heroes here so Japan loses all of them?"
"Pantu organized this so the people watching at home can feel a bit safer, seeing you being somewhat contained, they need whatever false sense of security we can afford them," Nezu says.
"And Japan needs to flex its muscles for them to see I'm all powerful," Horizon says as they enter the meeting room.
As they enter Horizon sees Endeavor in a fully repaired Hero Costume with his quirk off, sitting across from Pantu at a large desk.
Kamui Woods is also at the table and immediately gets up, silently leaving the room as Horizon and Nezu enter.
"What was he doing here?" Horizon asks.
"He and Edgeshot agreed to be positive character witnesses for you, we were just going over details," Endeavor says.
"That must mean team Lurkers is destroyed, since Mt. Lady is outside getting everyone to hate my guts," Horizon says as he and Nezu sit at the table.
"We have bigger things to worry about than the feelings of some mediocre hero," Pantu says. "14 of the judges have resigned."
"What?!" Nezu nearly falls off his chair in surprise. "Only one of them stayed, why?"
"Nobody wants the pressure of judging this case," Endeavor says.
"And they were planning to rule against Horizon," Pantu says. "So I persuaded them to simply not be present if they weren't on our side."
Horizon immediately places a hand on hers, "is that true?"
"Yes, they were going to rule to have you expelled from the national Hero Program," Pantu says. "Japan can't afford to lose you right now."
"And the last judge?" Horizon asks, still holding her hand.
"He's undecided," Pantu says.
And Horizon detects no lies in anything she said.
"This case should be delayed if this is the situation," Nezu says.
"We can't afford that, literally," Pantu says. "Japan is essentially shut down right now, the country is losing too much money each hour, delaying this a week will be another problem waiting to happen."
Horizon lets go of her hand, "alright, so we're neutral with the current judge, that's good, so now it's fair game on who wins or loses, right?"
"It all depends on who they call as character witnesses," Pantu says. "Their prosecutor is…very good."
"A better lawyer than the smartest creature in the world?" Nezu gives a proud smile.
"No," Endeavor says. "But unlike us, she's not fighting a nearly impossible uphill battle. Not to mention any character witness I can imagine her calling won't have nice things to say about the kind of first impressions you make."
"Your terrible attitude makes fighting for you very difficult," Pantu says. "Luckily you're absurdly powerful, and hopefully that alone will be enough to persuade them, along with the medical miracles you provide for free."
"So is there any good news at all?" Horizon asks.
"No," Pantu says bluntly. "Almost everyone hates you and at best we have a fair judge."
"Great," Horizon leans back and sighs.
"We need to go," Pantu gets up as she checks the time. "Endeavor and I need to take our places in the room before all the press are let inside, otherwise we'll be swarmed with questions."
Endeavor gets up to join her only for Horizon to stop them, "wait," they both look back at him. "If I lose, what happens to you?" he asks Pantu.
"If you lose, I'll likely lose my job for siding with you," she says. "But this is my job, keeping powerful assets local, protecting Japan," she leaves the room followed by Endeavor.
Horizon closes his eyes and tilts his head back, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Who are you texting?" he asks Nezu, sensing the bear-mouse typing on his phone.
"Backup, in case we need it, hopefully he'll get here fast enough," Nezu says.
Horizon chuckles, maybe I should send a few messages, tell the white house to get a plane ready.
"And tell Ryuko to pack perhaps…"
"I, I don't even know anymore."
"Your classmates would miss you, I hope you'd at least say goodbye to them," Nezu says.
"The best I can do is try to keep them as far away from this as possible, luckily with Pantu's help nobody's tried to drag my team into this crap."
"They are promising your heroes, of course she will protect them, and what about your…friends?"
"Those girls liked the idea of a perfect invincible hero," Horizon admits. "So I think that…convenient fun, is dead now."
"Well that's one positive of this," Nezu chuckles. "I don't have to worry about you seducing any more of my students…or teachers."
"She wasn't technically a member of UA Staff," Horizon says.
"Oh no, I'm talking about one of my other teachers, one who got invited to a grand gala and was charmed by the sponsor of the event, ring any bells?"
Horizon just chuckles quietly, "that was fun…"
A few minutes of further discussion later and Horizon is walking toward the main chamber with Nezu walking in front of him.
As he's about to push open the doors, guarded by both Mirko and Edgeshot, she raises a hand to block him.
He internally grumbles, glancing over to look at her, seeing that familiar fire in her eyes.
"Do you need something?"
She holds his gaze for a moment, then scoffs, reaching up to pat his chest.
"Regular people and weaklings can't understand it, and they never will. When you blood is pumping, when the fight is getting serious, sometimes instincts just take over for you to win, right?"
Horizon nods, "yeah, they wouldn't get it."
Mirko smiles at that, "this doesn't mean I'll ever forgive you for all the people that became collateral damage, but we need you. So go be Horizon, and do what you always do, win."
She gives him a hard punch on the shoulder before he enters the room, ready to face whatever fate has in store for him…
END CHAPTER---
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