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CHAPTER START---
"Mmm," with a relaxed and comfortable moan, Ryukyu rolls over in bed as she stirs awake.
Feeling well-rested and completely refreshed, as if she just spent a week at a spa. But the moment she opens her eyes, her mind is flooded with confusion.
Training kicking in as she's ready to fight anyone in the room.
Sitting up in the bed and looking around, she sees she's in a hospital bed, to her right is a wall of cabinets with a variety of different tools.
But this wasn't Central Hospital. One look to her left, at the view of Saitama Tokyo made that very clear.
"Where am---" she stops talking, feeling her throat dry. Looking around she sees a bottle of water on the bedside table.
Before doing anything else she throws off the covers to see her state. Wearing only a hospital gown.'No cuffs or restraints, this has to be a friendly place. The police and other Pros must have found us before the villains could finish.'
Deciding she's mostly safe the woman drinks some of the water. Feeling much more relaxed afterward.
"That's enough sleeping Ryukyu," she mutters to herself as she sits at the edge of the bed, feet hanging just an inch above the floor.
"Cold," she mutters as her bare feet touch the tile floor. Dealing with the discomfort she walks over and turns on the lights, no longer solely depending on the moonlight and bedside lamp for light.
She has to block her eyes as the blue and white of the room assault her vision.
"Well, atleast now I know where I am..." she realizes immediately. The logo on some of the cabinets made it rather obvious.
Her shoulder slumps down as she takes her time to walk over to the mirror. Using the full-length mirror to look at herself properly. Not seeing any scars or bruises on her face.
"I must have been out for a few days," she looks at the clock, seeing it's only midnight. "Nejire must be so worried...some mentor I am, making my Sidekicks worry about me. You need to do better Ryukyu."
Looking lower, down to her feet, she also sees perfectly clear and unblemished skin.
She freezes for a moment, then hastily takes off the hospital gown, standing naked in front of the mirror.
Her entire body was flawless, in every sense.
All the scars and proofs of her career as a Pro Hero were gone, leaving her appearing as a woman who has never known such violent work.
After staring in amazement she finally spots the change of clothes laid out for her beside the bed, and a pair of fuzzy slippers that she wishes she saw earlier.
"Does he seriously need to make everything match?" she mutters curiously while moving to get dressed.
After getting dressed, in a set of grey sweatpants with the simple blue fluffy slippers and a grey sweater. The pants and sweater each sporting Horizon's blue logo. One on the thigh and the other on the back.
Running a hand through her hair to lazily set her bangs across the right side of her face she looks at both doors connected to this room. One on the opposite end of the room away from the glass wall.
And another beside the glass wall toward the outer wall of the building.
"Nejire is probably in the waiting room," Ryukyu says as she grabs her bottle of water and walks to the door closest to the bed, beside the glass wall.
And the moment she opens it, 'oh...not a waiting room.'
She enters Horizon's office, closing the door behind her as she looks around in genuine wonder.
'His office is bigger than mine, atleast twice as big,' she thinks while walking around.
She sees all the books on the shelves, most of which are Quirk Catalogues. Containing every publicly recorded Quirk and its uses.
'So old fashioned, all of this stuff is already online,' her gaze drifts over to a medical degree on the wall.
'So is 'Horizon' his actual name...it has to be if they put it on his degree, right?'
As she's curiously looking around the office, however, her eyes finally land on the most interesting thing, something she's almost smacking herself in the face for missing.
So distracted by the fact that he even has an office, to see him slumped forward on his desk completely asleep.
Ryukyu froze, for the first time Horizon actually seemed...human.
Or atleast somewhat human.
Even with his visor on and in full costume, his sword and hoverboard nowhere in sight. It was so surreal seeing him do something that everyone does, sleep.
But somehow he still managed to inspire awe. By the strange blue energy vapor wafting off of his body as he peacefully sleeps.
Just small wisps from his arms and hands, enough to give her an unsettling feeling.
But her curiosity was even stronger, and before she knew it, the woman was taking careful, silent steps forward.
Until she stood in front of his desk, with the two seats opposite him to either side of her.
And in the next moment she reaches out, to swat some of the energy away.
"ARGH!" Horizon's hand instinctively shoots up and grabs her neck, slowly choking the life out of her as she desperately claws at his fingers.
His grip was like a vice, and it took all her willpower not to instinctively transform. To break his hold, and the moment he finally looks up.
Those inhuman blue eyes on his visor seemed to bore a hole into her very being. They shone brightly as he looked at her, then the next moment became dull as the vapor on his body disappeared and he released her.
"Gaahhh!" she greedily sucks in air, leaning on the desk to support herself as Horizon sits back in his chair.
"Oh don't be so dramatic," Horizon's somewhat mechanical voice sounds more disgusted than anything else. "What were you even doing?"
Finally catching her breath Ryukyu stares at him with concern, "who reacts like that to someone being close to them, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I'm perfect," he says. "Can you just sit down already?"
Ryukyu frowns, still massaging her neck which was sporting a fresh new handprint, but she sits opposite him.
"Good," Horizon sees her picking up her water bottle off the floor, "now, what were you doing?"
"You were, leaking?"
"Excuse me?"
"Blue mist from your arm, I was just making sure you're ok. Maybe coolant, do robots have that?"
Horizon pauses for a moment, realizing how serious she was being, "I'm not a robot."
"Sorry sorry sorry! I meant cyborg! I didn't mean to offend you I promise!"
Horizon just gives an annoyed groan, "not a cyborg either, but thanks for the info."
He truly had no idea his body was doing that while he slept. Yet another thing to divide his focus.
"Oh, but Nejire said you told her that---"
"This is my face, because it never comes off, Lifestyle Support Item," Horizon says. "But really I'm just a bag of meat, like everyone else."
"Right, well, sorry," she gives an awkward smile.
"It's fine, now since you're here, anything you want to know?" he asks while logging into his computer and checking up on some cases.
"What happened?" Ryukyu asks.
"What do you remember?"
"Everything up until I was in one of the trucks, then there was a cold pain in my back, then everything goes black."
"That makes sense, your vehicle was the first to get hit. Then they killed most of the security and hit Hawks with a grenade before leaving, from the looks of it Endeavor and Burnin got there fast enough that they couldn't finish you two. But nobody else lived."
"Hawks?" Ryukyu voice almost cracked with how worried she was, or maybe how disappointed in herself she was.
"In Central Hospital, still in surgery, will be for a few more hours."
"Wait, he isn't here?"
"Why would he be here?"
"For you to operate on him."
"Hawks isn't my problem, he can deal with his own healthcare," Horizon looks at her, then turn back to his computer.
"Is the bad blood between you two truly that serious?"
He stops typing, then speaks in a dangerously calm tone, "yes, now is there anything else you want to know?"
"How long has it been?"
"Well, the attack was only a few hours ago, your surgery was done two hours ago."
"What?! You fixed me that quickly?"
He glances back to her, then returns to his work, "what part of 'Miracle' did you not understand?"
"And my scars."
"I assumed you didn't want to keep them, you look better like this anyway," he shrugs.
She raises a brow at that, "doctors aren't supposed to comment on their patients like that."
"Then go find another miracle doctor."
She opens her mouth to respond, but decides to just take the compliment. "Thank you for healing me."
"Happy to help, now can you tell me how you feel?"
"Like I spent two weeks on vacation and got a massage."
"Tired?"
"Not at all, I feel fully refreshed."
'That's new,' Horizon thinks. Usually, for such invasive operations, his patients need atleast a day of rest before they can function normally. 'Refined energy has its uses...'
"Is that another room for your patients?" Ryukyu gestures to the other door, opposite where she entered from.
"That's my bedroom. Office in the middle, bedroom to my left, patient room and medical equipment to my right."
"Hmm, maybe my agency should get a live-in doctor..."
After a few more minutes of talking Horizon's computer and phone start beeping. The familiar sound of the Hero Network alert immediately has Ryukyu on alert.
"What's going on?"
"I put out some bait on the black market to find where that super concentrated Trigger supplier is, just got a hit."
"The sample I sent you not even a day ago, seriously? How'd you even get a black market contact, that's near impossible for heroes."
"Miracles are my specialty, it shouldn't take us long to get there."
She looks a bit confused by that, "us?"
"Yes, us. Because after I spent 80 hours doing Hero Work and was finally about to get some sleep, I had to rush over here to work on you. And now the public also thinks you can't do your job that well so you need the reputation boost of teaming up with me."
"Good point, but...how are you even awake?"
Horizon shrugs, "you expect me to sleep when I can be helping people? I can't become who I'm aiming to be like that."
She's both surprised and inspired by that answer, but also can't help but worry for his own health. "And who are you aiming to be?"
"Well, at first it was the next Symbol of Peace...but I think being a Guardian Deity has a better ring to it."
Ryukyu thinks it over for a second, then nods in agreement, then gives him a soft smile "honestly. If anyone else said it that'd be arrogance, but on you, it just makes sense."
"Awe look who's being inappropriate now, flirting with your doctor," he teases.
She folds her arms and glares at him, "I was not, besides you're 10 years younger than me."
"I won't make it weird if you don't..."
Her glare softens, genuinely confused as to if he was serious or not.
"Anyway, let's get going, it's a private hangar at the edge of Tokyo, his plane leaves soon," Horizon warps from his seat to standing beside her, startling the woman.
"I thought you needed to always swap with something?"
"It's complicated," he turns to looks down at her, enjoying the way she was sitting down and staring up at him. "Now as much as I like the way I look on you, let's make use of the things Nejire brought for you..."
'SHAMBLES!'
Her Horizon-themed clothes immediately swap for her spare Hero Costume that Nejire brought her, perfectly equipped.
Ryukyu freezes, then her face quickly begins transitioning to bright red, she grabs her chest and squeezes her legs shut tight.
"Don't do that!"
END CHAPTER---