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CHAPTER START---
---6 AM, Horizon's Penthouse, Minato Tokyo...
Pacing around his bedroom, Sero was buzzing with excitement. A massive smile splits his face as he dries his hair, walking over to his dresser where the metal case for his Hero Costume was resting.
"Finally, time for the big reveal..." he giggles madly while opening the case.
"Wow," he takes a small step back, laying eyes on his brand-new costume for the first time. "So this is what he and Mei came up with, nice..."
After getting dressed, his modified Hero Costume keeps the same design as the original.
With his visor resembling a tape dispenser, something Horizon tried and failed to talk him out of.
The yellow, black, and white colors are exactly as before.But the most notable changes are the much more reinforced boots and a functional utility belt with small compartments for first aid and other accessories.
But standing up, now fully dressed, he turns around to look at his back in the mirror.
He sees thing carbon fiber rectangles running down his spine, across the back of his arms and legs. Connecting to the soles of his boots.
"Ok, guess I need the manual," Sero takes the instructions out of the case and sits on the bed with them.
Looking at the diagram and then raises his arm, he sees an opening where his Quirk dispenses tape on his elbow.
"Ok so I feed tape into this thing from my elbows, then I just use these..." he looks at his gloves, seeing small buttons on them. "Wait...crap, I should have opened this thing last night and loaded it! That way I could have started with a full set of tape for the day and had the gear loaded up."
He holds his head in frustration, seeing the gear itself can independently hold a few hundred feet of tape.
"I should be fine, I doubt I'll ever use that much, hopefully. Plus this thing lets me shoot the tape farther so it should be more efficient."
Taking a look at the last few pages of the instructions he raises a brow at the diagram, "so they built in Super-Moves for me, that's useful..." he says before getting up and stretching a few times, feeling comfortable, as if the costume wasn't even there.
Looking down at his chest, he sees a side view of his visor in the middle of his chest, made to look like a yellow tape dispenser, "time to go help some people, for real this time, no more kid games."
Packing away his things in this massive bedroom, as big as the apartment he and his dad live in, Sero appreciates how much his life has changed for the better since UA, and even more so since meeting Horizon.
Until the scent of eggs and bacon reaches his nose, "mmm, but first, breakfast. Heroes have to eat too," he begins walking toward the door, but stops at the mirror to take one last look at himself. Taking out his phone and sending a picture to his dad.
"Yeah, hero..."
Entering the hallway Sero looks left to see Minato Tokyo just about to start waking up, taking in exactly how high up they are. At the top floor of this skyscraper.
Walking toward the kitchen he takes off his visor, holding it under his arm. Sadly he didn't have the same equipment as Horizon to get a visor that folds down, atleast not yet.
"That smells great!" Sero says from around the corner, "but I thought you said we'd just buy brea---" and he immediately freezes, coming face to face with a curvy blonde standing at the stove, wearing only a robe and a pair of Horizon's slippers.
They both just lock eyes, and an awkward silence ensues. Sero immediately recognizes her, and stiffly turns around, returning to his room.
Five minutes later Sero walks into the kitchen, seeing Horizon in his full Hero Costume sitting at the table enjoying a plate of scrambles eggs and toast.
Beside him is the same woman, now wearing a t-shirt and some shorts, enjoying a cup of coffee with her breakfast.
And Sero just awkwardly slides into the third seat with a plate already set out for him.
"Sooooooo," Sero looks between both of them. "What's Pixie-Bob doing here?"
"Ryuko," she says. "Just call me Ryuko, Pixie-Bob is retired."
Horizon just sits back and keeps enjoying breakfast.
"Wow! Since when? Are all the Wild Wild Pussycats retiring?"
"No just me," she gives a forced smile. "I just decided to go a different way with my life."
"Ohh, yeah. Well, you chose the right time atleast. Every Pro Hero is under a lot of stress right now. Even the students. All the 2nd and 3rd-year students at UA are out in the field right now."
"Yeah, I've been following the news. If I could balance everything I would but I just had to pick, and I guess being Pro-Hero wasn't as important to me as I thought. Some things are just a bit more important, you know?"
"He knows," Horizon says. "I chose Sero for my team because he knows. He won't stupidly sacrifice himself so easily, because he has a selfish desire to take care of his family. To actually be alive to spend time with them."
Sero just gives an awkward smile, still not a fan of how Horizon calls 'Heroic Spirit' stupid.
"Well if Horizon is working with you then I'm sure you'll do great, what's your Hero Name? I don't think I worked with you at the training camp."
"Oh, Cellophane!"
"Like...the wrap?"
"Exactly!" he looks at Horizon "See, it's not stupid."
"It is," Horizon says.
"A little bit," Ryuko says. "But atleast people will hear it and immediately know what you're capable of, that's the goal after all. Like 'All Might'."
"Says the woman who chose 'Pixie-Bob'. but has no cat powers," Horizon says.
"It's a theme, you'll get it when you have a full team. Like Endeavor and his fire team."
"Teams are just how weak people compensate, a dozen ants still can't fight a dragon."
Ryuko just growls and sticks her tongue out at him, then they go back to eating.
"Wait," Sero just realizes something. "You never said why you're here, you weren't here last night when we got here, right?"
"Uhhh, well. You see. Being a Pro-Hero doesn't really leave you much in the way of monetizable skills when you retire, and since we weren't exactly super popular or anything..."
"She needs to find a job," Horizon says. "She and her team lost all their sponsors and partnerships after the summer camp, Nezu dealt with the legal fees but it's still a pretty shit situation."
"Oh," Sero nods along. "But why is she here?"
"Oh, I got a job interview in Tokyo!" Ryuko almost hops out of her seat in excitement. "But since I don't live here I just called Horizon to crash here for the next few days."
"Oh," Sero looks between them as he finishes his breakfast. Not sure if his theory was right. "So, are you two...like, uhhhh."
"Oh, we're just friends," Ryuko says.
"But we do have sex sometimes," Horizon causes both Sero and Ryuko to choke on their food. She gives him an annoyed glance, "what? If I didn't trust him to shut his mouth then you two never would have met here, besides. He's my sidekick because he's not a moron, he already figured it out..."
"But still," Ryuko pouts.
"I'm not your Sidekick," Sero says. "Atleast don't say that in public, the whole point of this is so I never have to be a Sidekick remember?"
"I know, I know, now finish your food and meet me on the roof."
Horizon immediately warps away, leaving Ryuko and Sero at the table.
As Sero is finishing Ryuko processes what Horizon just said, "wait, why are you meeting him on the roof, that's weird."
"It's Horizon, he's rarely normal," Sero shrugs and finishes his breakfast, "so, you'll be staying with us all week?"
"Or until I get the job, it comes with a small apartment," Ryuko says, looking around at the penthouse she'd never be able to afford. "But if I'm being honest, I could get used to this..."
---3 Minutes Later...
Stepping out of the elevator and walking onto the helipad, Sero sees Horizon sitting on his Hoverboard with his feet hanging off the side, floating above the ground.
"Ready for your first day of Hero Work?"
"I've been waiting all my life for this!"
"Good," Horizon gestures to the edge of the roof, "just jump and we can get started."
"Uh...jump?"
"Mobility, its what separates people like Endeavor and All Might from people like Jeanist. That's why I've got this," he taps the Hoverboard. "Without it, I'm less consistent, well, I was. I could get away without it now once I don't have to leave Tokyo. But Tokyo is almost 100km wide, it was half that 300 years ago in 2014, and I'll probably just keep expanding."
"Ok, so more mobility lets you get to the scene before others and that makes you more effective, right?"
"Exactly, and what's your mobility?"
"Swinging from stuff!"
"Good, but this isn't UA where the tallest thing you'll have to get over is the Zero Pointers, this is the real world. And this is the tallest building in Minato Tokyo, if you can swing from this, you can swing from anything."
"Right," Sero puts on his visor and walks to the edge, looking down, 160 floors separate him and the street below.
820m till splat.
"Do you need a push?"
"No!" Sero looks at Horizon, thankfully seeing him unmoving. "I just, need a second..."
"No, you need to stop being a pussy, Takt."
Sero immediately feels himself being lifted off the floor, as if there was a hand on his back raising him toward the sky.
"Wait! I thought you couldn't move living things!" Sero yells as Horizon lifts him over the edge.
"Did you not read the instructions?"
"I skimmed them!" Sero yells, unable to move his arms or legs.
"Then you know your new suit is fully reinforced to take more pressure. That means you've got some very durable parts that I can grab onto...its why armor doesn't really work against me."
"Wait!"
"Good luck, Cellophane," Horizon says before he drops him off the side of the building.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Sero scream echoes through the cold morning air as his first day of Hero Work begins...
END CHAPTER---