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CHAPTER START---
---1 PM, Tokyo...
Sitting on one of the couches in Pantu's office, Horizon is scrolling through his phone, waiting for the woman to arrive.
And of course, the first moment of peace he's had all day is interrupted by his phone ringing.
"C'mon man, its Sunday, don't you ever take a day off," he says before answering the call, and it immediately connects to his visor.
"Hello?" Aizawa's voice greets him.
"Whatever this is definitely could have waited till tonight when I'm back at UA," Horizon says. "What is it?"
"Its about the UA Culture Festival Tuesday," Aizawa says."What does that have to do with me? I just have to stay on campus and scare off villains."
"Yeah, but is Ryuko coming?"
"Uh...."
"The cat, not the dragon," Aizawa clarifies. "Can't believe that's something I need to say to you."
"Yeah she's coming, Ryukyu isn't. UA is all the way on the other side of Japan from her turf."
"Good, can she watch Eri during the festival? Since everyone will be on alert I can't leave her with Mirio and the other members of the Big Three, and the last thing I want is for her to be targeted because people see her around you, so---"
"Handing her off to a Pro Hero that isn't in costume is the best approach, yeah," Horizon agrees. "Mandalay will be giving her Kota to babysit at the festival too while they're working security, I'll just give her a heads up."
"Thanks, I appreciate it, this whole new dad thing is still a bit weird."
"You're doing pretty good so far," Horizon gives a genuine compliment for a change.
"Huh, don't know if hearing that from you is a good or a bad thing."
"Hey! I'm great, and my parents clearly knew what they were doing."
"Yeah, but I'm not trying to make her into a optimized super hero like your parents were doing, I just want her to be a regular kid."
"And you're doing fine, I think, I wouldn't know. I wasn't raised to be a loser."
"I never said loser..."
"That's what regular people are, its why they worship Pro Heroes so much, even the useless ones."
Aizawa sighs, "well I'll cut this conversation short before you make me second guess everything I've been doing, don't forget to tell Ryuko about this."
"Yeah its n---" Aizawa hangs up on him. "Ok, I see, so its like that huh."
Horizon goes back to scrolling through his social media for a few minutes until Pantu walks in, carrying a stack of papers in her arms.
Seeing him she pauses for a moment, then without letting any emotion show she closes the door and silently walks over to her desk, immediately getting to work.
"Its quite rude to warp into my office without permission," Pantu says.
Horizon shrugs, "figured since you're using your fancy character recognition system all across Japan to track me I didn't have to say where I was," he sees Pantu glance at him for a moment, then she returns to her work. "Oh right, this is one of the few places without any cameras or mics huh, guess I found a blind spot."
"And should I bother asking how you know about that system?"
"Its one of the reasons living here was easier than most countries," Horizon says. "Your security tends to be a bit lax for super high value targets because you lean on that system so much. So if we feed the system some wrong info, suddenly we aren't in Japan anymore."
Pantu holds down a button on her keyboard and speaks clearly, "have the character recognition system fully audited by the end of this week," she then releases the button. "Thank you for the insight."
"Mhm, so I heard you cancelled the tribute event for Yoroi Musha," Horizon says. "Thanks for that, really wasn't in the mood for that waste of a day."
"I didn't do it for you, we simply can't afford to not have our top Pro Heroes on patrol," Pantu begins folding some of the papers. "Not to mention having everyone gathered together after seeing Shigaraki's new power was clearly a bad idea, but the public doesn't need to know how concerned we truly are."
"Mhm, and is Hawks any closer to finding where the base is?"
A pregnable silence fills the room as Pantu slowly looks up at Horizon.
"Well?"
"How did you know about that plan?"
"I took a educated guess, and you just confirmed it," Horizon says, and she was sure he had a wide grin beneath the visor. "Figured if you're so hell bent on keeping me away from the league, its because you've got someone stealthily getting close. Looks like I was right."
"Yes well, when he has locations for both Kurogiri and Twice, you'll be called in for the strike."
"Figured as much."
"Any other national secrets that you'd like to inform me that you're aware of?"
"Hmm," he think about it for a moment. "Well...actually, nevermind, that's all."
Pantu looks at Horizon for a moment, sensing that he just blatantly lied, but she lets it go.
Carefully observing the way he's casually sitting there with Scalpel leaning against the couch.
Considering all she knows about him, and how much she doesn't know.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Horizon asks. "Sorry you're a bit too old for me."
Pantu doesn't give in to him jabs, simply ignoring it, "I was thinking that, in another life, you would have made a remarkable agent. To protect Japan and her interests."
"You would have had me working with birdie?" she can hear the disgust in his voice.
"For a man who claims not to hold any grudges because he accepts the consequences of the life he chose, you seem to hold a grudge against him. Even though he was only following Nezu's orders."
"Maybe I just don't like him," Horizon goes back to looking at his phone.
'I see,' Pantu nods and goes back to her work. 'For all his talk about keeping things strictly business, I suppose looking past the fact that Hawk's nearly killed his mother before his eyes is too much, even for a monster like him, he has a soft spot. He really would have been a perfect agent...'
A few moments later and there is a knock at the door.
"Enter," pantu says, and Endeavor steps inside.
All the flames on his costume were currently off.
"Lady Pantu," Endeavor says with a slight bow, before he looks over at the couch, "why are you here?"
"Just incase," Horizon says playfully, and nods toward Scalpel leaning nearby.
"I have the date for next months Hero Billboard Chart Ceremony, of course you'll be #1," Pantu says as Endeavor walks in, leaving the door closed behind him. "You didn't get the highest score in some categories, but right now having a practical and capable #1 is more important than a charming person.
We need people who take action, not people who coddle the masses. Not to mention the only Pro Heroes capable of fighting the villains worth worrying about are in this room."
"I see, thank you Lady Pantu," Endeavor says.
"Don't get too comfy in that spot Enji," Horizon says. "I'm more capable and charming than you, so a few months after I graduate, that spot is mine."
"I'm counting on it," Endeavor says, which surprised Pantu and Horizon. "But I doubt you called me here to speak about things that could have been a email."
"No, we didn't," Pantu says as he reaches into her desk and hands him a folder with a few papers. "Take a seat and read these results, tell us what you think."
"But before that, " Horizon says as Endeavor is moving toward the couch opposite him. "Did Toya have blue flames?"
Endeavor freezes, standing across from Horizon, "what does that have to do with anything?"
"Its a simple question Endeavor," Horizon says.
Endeavor looks at Pantu, and she gives him a nod. With a sigh he admits, "yes, he did. But I fail to see how that could be relevant."
"You should sit down a read those..."
Minutes later Endeavor is sitting across from Horizon, tears flowing down his face and falling onto the paper in his hands.
'Oh god, I never know what to say when this crap happens,' Horizon thinks.
"Are you sure its from Dabi?" Endeavor asks in a terrified voice. "Maybe its from something else, like, anything else."
"We aren't sure, but I'm willing to bet its Dabi," Horizon says.
"But, but this doesn't make sense. That was from over 15 years ago, how?"
"Did you ever find a body?" Pantu asks.
"No, everything was incinerated, we assumed that," Endeavor chokes on his words. "I should have kept looking, I never should have given up!"
"If you did that, then he would have died for sure," Horizon says. "I have reason to believe that they did, something, to keep him alive. His DNA has strands of Nomu genome perfectly melded into it."
"All For One, he's behind this," Endeavor says, angry even as the tears keep flowing.
"Best case scenario, I'm wrong," Horizon says.
"Is that possible, you're Horizon, worlds best doctor, is it possible?" Endeavor asks.
"..."
"I see, can it be amnesia, or mind control?" Endeavor asks, wiping his tears.
"Well, that's possible."
Endeavor looks up at Horizon, "I'm not asking if its possible, I'm asking if its likely. You've studied these villains more than most, just be honest with me, please."
Horizon sighs, "its, unlikely that they'd resort to that. Those methods are unreliable for this long a period of time, it would have been more efficient to harvest his stem cells and clone that powerful Quirk."
"I see, so if this is true, then he's a real villain. And its my fault," Endeavor says.
"He's an adult, his life, his choices. Lots of people have childhood trauma, but only a rare few are...well, you know."
"My main concern is if he knows who he is, assuming this data is correct," Pantu says. "And we will be operating as if he is Toya Todoroki until we have evidence disproving it that the public will also believe."
"When I become #1, he could make this public and further shake people's faith in the Pro Heroes," Endeavor says. "I shouldn't become #1. I doubted myself before, but now I know it."
"Not an option," Horizon says. "You're the only one who can do it until I'm a fully licensed pro. Anyone else they'll just kill to make an example of. Either way they'll try to destroy the next #1 Pro Hero, but this way we at least have a chance. A murderous villain pointing fingers at the #1 Pro Hero, we can control the media and have him ignored."
"Or when you do become #1, he'll hate it so much that he won't be able to resist showing his face," Pantu says. "No matter how you feel, no matter how we look at it, you're the only choice we really have Endeavor."
Endeavor gives a defeated sigh, "alright, then I shall do my best to be the #1 Hero people can look up to, who my family can be proud of. At least for the next three years," he looks over at Horizon, "until you're ready..."
END CHAPTER---