Chapter 27
Title: Vacation Plans & Political Complications
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Third Person POV. -- 15th Of December -- 2415
[ Hinode City ]
It's the middle of December, just half a month left until 2415 will come to an end, half a month until Retsu's 13th birthday and 2 more years until the start of canon.
Currently it's 6 am in the morning, a time where the skies of japan are still pretty dark.
Through the open gardens and walkways around the mansion of the Benihana estate, a 12 –almost 13 years old Benihana Retsu is seen jogging.
She is wearing form fitting clothes, a white tight sports pant and a sleevless shirt paired with a zip up sweater, the sweater and pants having black linings running down its sides. She also has a pair of white sports shoes to go with it.
Because of her quirk, Retsu doesn't really need to protect herself from the cold weather, she can just heat up her blood inside her body and control its temperature for the current climate, resulting in her body temperature always being in the right degree for the changing seasons.
As Retsu continues with her morning light run, her mind drifts to school and the upcoming exams, 'The second semester final exams will be starting today. With the exam stretching to 3 days with different curriculums,
In 3 days from now, our second semester will be over, and not long after will winter break start.
Maybe me, Mina and Himiko could go somewhere as vacation during the break? I guess I'll forward this with them today and see what they have to say. Momo-san will be away for the winter break, going on an oversea vacation with her parents, so she won't be able to make it. '
Retsu finishes with her inner thoughts the same moment she finishes with her morning jog, having continuously been lightly running without breaks for the past 40 minutes.
The sun is slowly ascending over the mountains, letting the city bathe under its warmth and luminosity as it slowly goes up.
Retsu looks over the Horizon, seeing over the mansion walls in the distance, and out and over the mountains in the far away. She silently gazes as the brilliant star slowly comes up, before she turns and grabs hold of her shinai from the wooden racks behind the mansion, and start performing her morning routines of as many perfect sword swings as she can.
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40 minutes later and after her shoulders and hand has been exhausted, slowly shaking at this point and, despite the weather her forehead being slightly damp, Retsu stops.
She glances at her wrist watch while internally she consciously heals her fatigue, and sees that it's currently 07:20 in the morning, just one hour and ten minutes before her school starts.
Retsu decides to head inside, go freshen up very quickly and then go to the dining room.
Her nanny, a woman in her elder ages of 60, is a hunched old woman who always wears a kind smile on her wrinkled face. Bless her soulshe always chooses to wake up early and make breakfast for Retsu, who then eats it warm and ready, having plenty of time after that before she goes to change into her school uniform.
By then it's around 07:45 am
After changing, Retsu exits the mansion, her driver ready and waiting to take her to school.
Then, it takes around half an hour to get to the city's middle districts where her school is located from her house near the mountainous regions.
By the time they get to school, it's around 08:15 am, just 15 minutes before the school bell rings.
As Retsu exits the vehicle, she spots Himikoalso nearing the gates, the shorter girl having ironed out her timing in order to get here the same time Retsu does.
"Good Morning~" Himiko sing songs as she gets closer, leading to Retsu smiling and reciprocating her gesture, like always. "Good morning. I hope you've been studying Himi-chan, because today is the exams day. " Retsu Reminds, which leads to the shorter girl groaning out loud.
"Ugh, no... I didn't study... " Himiko slumps on the spot, her posture hunched and her hands drooping in front of her, leading to Retsu letting out a sigh and shaking her head.
"Himi-chan, what did I tell you about skipping studying? " Retsu asks, more like a mother scolding her daughter than as friends.
"That if my grades drop, I wouldn't be able to attend the same high school as you... " Himiko reluctantly replies,
"That's right. How are you supposed to attend UA if you can't get through its written exam? The written portion will be just as important as the practical.
Though it's still 2 years away from now, if you don't study for it and laze around, these same grades will be the reason you won't be accepted into that school. "
"Ahhhhh! ~ I got it I got it! I'll study! Just stop scolding me already Re-re! " Himiko takes hold of her head as she theatrically sways left and right, making Retsu smile lightly in amusement.
As the duo are heading inside, their missing piece makes herself known by throwing her hands over their shoulders from behind and invading their middle.
"Good morning~" The pink girl says, her smile infectious.
"Morning, " Retsu replies. "Have you also not studied for the exam? " She asks, leading to Mina's eyes widening.
"Wait! It was today?!? " She panics, taking hold of her cheeks in suprise, making Retsu sigh and shake her head once again, though there is still a small smirk on her lips despite it having no buisness being there.
"You two are impossible. " Retsu says, leading to Mina and Himiko smiling her way in mischievousness, knowing full well that their friend will help them in some way in the exam, either by giving them cheats, or making them study after today's exam ends and for tomorrow's tests, –the two are feeling she'll do the letter option unfortunately.
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The exams today weren't that bad, at least to the genius known as Benihana Retsu. Forothers like her two friends though, it was a different story...
"Ahhhh how am I supposed to know in what year did the world wars began and ended?
We had like, Dozens of them didn't we? What's the point of even knowing that? Ne Re-re! Tell me why I'd need to know these things again? " Himiko complains while throwing her hands over Retsu's shoulders from behind, being supported like a backpack as the much taller girl walks forward.
The trio of her, Retsu and Mina are currently outside the classroom and in the hallways, their destination being the exit of the school, having come today only to go through their final exams and being free for the rest of the period.
"History exists in order to teach us of the mistakes of humanity's past. As the future of this world, it teaches us in learning not to repeat past errors, hence why it's important. " Retsu explains.
"Hmmmm~ I know that! But it's still such a chore to studyyyy~" Himiko complains still, leading to the taller girl just shaking her head and giving out a sigh, –a habit she's quickly starting to develope to cope with the ignorance of those around her.
"Guys! Now that school ends earlier, how about we go to this cafe nearby? It could be fun and also a place to let your stress of the exam wash away! " Mina suggests, leading to Himiko perking up,
"Hm! That's not a bad idea. Okay let's do it! You in Re-re? " Himiko asks, making Retsu nod after a second of contemplation.
"Hm, why not. It would be a good place to relax. I'll also be filling you guys in on a proposal I have in mind. " Retsu adds, leading to the other two getting curious.
As they get to their lockers to take out their outwear shoes, replacing their indoor ones with them, a boy suddenly strides forward.
"Benihana-san from class A! " He yells out, his familiar razor sharp teeth and yet to be died hair quite distinguishable.
Retsu turns from her locker, her two friends doing the same and turning to look at Kirishima Eijiro who has come forward.
"Hm? What is it? You're Kirishima Eijiro-san from class D, correct? " Despite asking, Retsu already knows who he is.
Kirishima Eijiro, a future Unbreakable hero in both body and spirit. And also another character from the future Class 1A of UA high.
"Oooooh~ is this another proposal? I don't recognize him though. You know him Re-re? " Himiko asks, her eyes wide in wonder as she gazes at the new figure.
Mina blinks once towards him, before her eyes widen in recognition. "Ooooh! The boy who was at that incident back then! " Mina yells out, pointing at Eijiro who by now is sweating profusely.
"A-ah yes, that was me from back then... " He scratches the back of his head, before his gaze turns to Retsu's and he bows again.
"I'm here to say that I'm sorry! Back then, you had to move forward and protect your classmates because I couldn't. I felt helpless, I was too scared and frozen to move back then, which is why I promise you, I'm never going to stand aside and just watch, never again!
I'm sorry for back then once again! " He yells out, his convictions quite clear and his spirit having felt lifted after he dumped this self imposed guilt that he's been carrying all this while.
"Whaaaa it wasn't a proposal this time? " Someone voices out from the side, having thought it was another proposal to the most beautiful girl in their school, thinking it would turn into another drama.
Suddenly Himiko pops up from beside this random student, startling her to high heavens! "I know right! I really thought he was gonna go for it! "
"A-ah! When did you get behind me?! " The random girl yells out, making Himiko smirk and tilt her head side ways, "what are you saying silly? ~ I've been beside you this entire time~" She sing sons, making the girl more creeped out and terrified by the second.
"Himiko, stop bothering others. " Retsu calls out, leading to Himiko moving back beside her, "kaaaay~"
Then Retsu turns her gaze to the still bowing boy, "As for you, Kirishima-san. I don't feel anything regarding what you said. Back then, I wasn't scared nor in need of help, so don't feel like you should have done something. You're only a boy right now, think responsible like you do when you're older. " Retsu says, making Eijiro slowly straighten and look at her in wonder.
Retsu turns and begins heading out, Mina and Himiko walking beside her, "if you don't want to feel helpless like back then again, then train and get stronger. " Retsu adds in the end, leading to Eijiro's eyes widening before he gives her a fierce nod, "right! "
"See you later Spiky hairs~" Himiko says in the end.
"Right! See you late- hey wait a minute! My hair isn't spiky! " He yells out. Though this does give him another idea about how to change his appearance in the future.
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"Now then, while we're heading toward the cafe, let me fill you guys in on my plans regarding Winter break. " Retsu says, the trio currently heading towards the school gates.
"A trip to Mt. Fuji. It's currently winter so the mountain would be full of snow, a very nice place for skiing. How does that sound to you guys? " Retsu asks, making the other two quite enthusiastic.
"Oh, that could be fun! " Himiko says, already starting to jump up and down a little from the mere mention.
"I wanna go so badly too! But I don't think my parents would allow it... " Mina slumps down, her visage droopy and her mood going down by the second.
"I'll ask my parents if they can convince them. I'm sure my father's hero status would vouch for you. " Retsu says, using her father's name and title without any shame.
Hey! He's her father okay! What is his is also hers, especially now that He has taken her license away.
"Awww thank you so much! Your the best, Retsu-chan! " Mina says, making Retsu nod slightly, before they continue with their walk, by now having passed the gates and reached Retsu's awaiting driver.
Retsu informs her driver of their plan in visiting the nearby cafe, but this time, the reaction that she gets is quite different.
"Young mistress, please do try and not get in another fight again... " The driver says, her head drooping down and her visage all but defeated, not even entertaining the idea of going against her young mistress' wishes, simply because she knows it will be futile.
At this point, Retsu's tendency to pick fights with anyone she finds interesting has become something that's expected by the staff of her family as well as her parents.
"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble! " Mina voices out, making the older woman look towards her. "You promise?... " the poor driver weakly asks,
"You betcha! " And Mina gives her a thumbs up.
Oh how depressed has she gone after the last incident, where she let Retsu go like this and her young mistress went and fought a walking mountain.
She's so depressed that even the words of a 12 years old sounds so nice and reassuring to her.
After informing Retsu's driver, the trio turn and start walking towards the cafe they were headed, which Retsu is pretty sure would look odd for 12 year old middle schoolers to go to.
But hey, she's mentally over thousands of years old and is currently walking with pre-teenagers so there's that.
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In the world of MHA, unlike what most would like to believe, everything isn't about heroes and villains.
There is politics involved. Behind the scenes power plays, companies trying to topple each other from the shadows instead of in the light like heroes and villains do.
There is also open politics. The wordings may suggest different things, but the only difference here is that open politics happen in the open, where the public and those ignorant will eventually learn of them.
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Madame President, lady Kimmy knew this day would come...
Currently at Seisho city, within the president of the HPSC's office, the woman is seen holding a message written in bold letters, the sender of this message having their stamp on it to make it official.
the contents of what she is seeing are getting her position as the president in worser and worser standings with every paragraph that she reads.
— To the President of the HPSC, Madame Kimmy,
This office has formally received notification from the Government of the United States regarding the immediate implementation of targeted sanctions against select officials and regulatory bodies under the jurisdiction of the Hero Public Safety Commission.
The stated basis for these measures cites "humanitarian obstruction and restriction of access to a quirk-based medical asset of extraordinary global significance."
The sanctions include asset freezes on designated senior officials, suspension of bilateral quirk-research cooperation programs, and provisional travel restrictions pending further diplomatic review.
The American administration has framed this action as a response to what it characterizes as the unjust revocation of a licensed medical practitioner whose quirk possesses internationally recognized life-saving capabilities.
While these measures are presently limited in scope and do not constitute broad economic sanctions against the State of Japan, their political implications are substantial. Several allied nations are reportedly reviewing similar actions.
I require from the Commission an immediate and comprehensive report detailing the legal grounds for the revocation, the risk assessment conducted prior to the decision, and a strategic response for diplomatic de-escalation.
The matter is now of international consequence. Our response must be deliberate, lawful, and swift.
Signing,
The Prime Minister of Japan. —
"... "
Sigh...
Kimmy let's out a sigh, having seen this one coming from miles away,
Ever since Benihana Retsu shared the capabilities of her quirk during her licensing examination all those years ago, Kimmy has been careful in letting the girl get her way with everything she does, all to please her enough while subtly trying to steer Retsu towards herself.
Kimmy has been careful, in fact, she's been too careful.
She tried her best in suppressing all those scuffles in the past, the ones where the ignorant fools around the world would send people after the young Benihana, and Retsu would take care of them herself.
Kimmy has basically been cleaning after Retsu's every fight, trying to throw them all under the rug, doing her damn best to not let them become public knowledge too much, or either downplaying the said scuffles.
Over the years this unwilling but necessary job of hers had lessened in intensity, those people hiding in the dark having started pulling back their pieces, realizing that it was futile to try and take Retsu by force.
This in turn made Kimmy's job easier, allowing her breathing room, so she started also getting loose.
Slowly her grip over the problem started loosening, she even predicted that, by the time Retsu's second year in middle school would begin, she'd not have anyone sent after her anymore, letting Kimmy finally take a sigh of relief.
Oh how wrong she was, and in this final incident, even if Kimmy had known beforehand, she wouldn't be able to prevent it.
During the year's annual hero charts reveal, Kimmy had deemed to make it a public spectacle unlike the previous years, seeing as there were 3 new faces in the top ten, but this was where it all went wrong. This was where Kimmy's worst nightmares became real.
The national asset, Benihana Retsu, went and fought a powerful villain in broad daylight.
Now Kimmy could have, –and if it wasn't too public she would have played down the scuffle, saying that the villain attacked Retsu first, so it was in self defense and many other excuses.
Retsu's medical lisence would have also helped in her situation greatly and would have made it possible for Kimmy to push this one under the massively bulging rug, metaphorically of course.
Sadly though, the fight happened in brought daylight,where every soul saw it whether by their own eyes, or through recordings, so there was no saving it.
Even still, Kimmy planned on doing everything she could to tone the incident down as much as she could, even willing to use a lot of her centuries old favors in the political heigherarchy to not let Retsu get any penalties.
But it once again backfired when the number 3, Redvein himself came before her and demanded Retsu's license be revoked.
In front of a parent, someone who despite Retsu's licensed status would still have legal parental authority over his child, as well as the negative opinion of the current society, where the ignorant sheep wanted a star to fall and were ready to riot for it, the president of just one commission could do so much against those odds.
Kimmy still though, tried to suggest Redvein not do this, if he had agreed then Kimmy could have done something about the public opinion,
But the pro hero didn't budge, stubbornly sticking to his belief and, in the end forcing Kimmy's hand on the revocation papers.
And now, Kimmy and her centuries old commission has gotten a threat. A threat from the whole world in the form of a Targeted Sanction.
Now Kimmy's hands are tied, there is nothing she can do.
The Minister of Japan wants thorough details on Retsu's revocation process,
And what is Kimmy going to say? That it was the number 3 who came and demanded she revoke his daughter's license, simply because he was afraid of her getting hurt?
In Japan the quirk regulations for the public is very strict, must stricter than those of other countries.
In America, you would find it much more lenient in terms of civilians using quirks in public, kind of like how it's illegal for a civilian to carry firearms in Japan, but not in America.
So the idea that, the internationally recognized miracle got her license revoked because she used her quirk in public, yeah it would be a pretty lame excuse in the eyes of the American government.
On the other hand, sending a response like this not only wouldn't help their situation, but it would also give America and it's surrounding countries an excuse to start contacting the young Benihana, giving her offers in exchange for her relocation in their country, possibly taking Japan's national asset from right under their nose, with them knowing but having no power over the situation.
A national asset means that Retsu is very important for Japan, but it doesn't mean the Japanese government has agency over her, she is still free to do whatever she wants. She could leave the country and go to another that suits her taste right now, and the Japanese government could do nothing against that.
And with the way the situation is going, if Japan doesn't appeal to Retsu and she possibly accepts the soon flooding offers from overseas, then Japan will lose its national asset just like that.
'For the safety and prosperity of the nation, I have to do everything in my power to restore Benihana Retsu's former status, whatever it takes.
The alternative of her attending a hero school to get her license back is a long term project that we can't afford to wait for, it is still 5 years away. We need a solution now.
And the best solution I can think of is... ' Kimmy looks to her phone,
She looks at it, and then takes it in hand and start going through her contacts.
After a minute she finds who she needs to talk with, and she doesn't wait a moment before dialing that number.
'The root cause of this problem was her father, so let's start by him in order to fix this mess. ' Kimmy concludes, and moments after her call it's answered from the other side.
"Madame President, what's the situation? Do you need me for something? " A deep, masculine and familiar voice is heard.
"Yes. I need you from wherever you are right now.
The situation is anational crisis that needs to be adressed as soon as possible. And the quicker you are here, the better. " Kimmy says,
"...Very well, I'm currently free so I'll be there in about a few hours. " Pro hero Redvein says from the other side, before hanging up the call, leaving Kimmy to let out another weary sigh...
'Let's hope this works out. '
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Author's Note/ hah! Thought Retsu's situation would end just like that? Nuh uh! A national asset and someone who the whole world benefits from is too important of a figure to be left just like that!
Public opinion can matter so much until it can't anymore, and the ones who wanted Retsu down from her high throne managed so, but at a great cost in return.
Atleast they were able to see the error of their ways, that destroying your own heart is detrimental to yourself and not a wise move.
But what can we do huh? It's within human nature to always try and pull down those who shine from the top and throw them down and in the mud, all to please their own ego or try to feel superior. And as we see here, it can sometimes even blind them in their pursuit of these egotistical desires.
Anyways! I've written another high word count chapter so I'm going to just stop myself here and now.
Have a great day/night, and I'll see ya in the next one, PEACE! ✌