Author's Note: Hello everybody, this is metalgearhunter bringing you yet another story. Now, I know what you may be thinking, if you follow my works, you know I am… susceptible to not completing my work, usually because inspiration falls. I hope that does not happen with this story, because I hope to continue it. For the past 8 months, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere has intrigued me and touched me, it's characters, story, all of it, I absolutely loved. So, I decided that this year in high school, my senior year, I would use my free time to write a story in class and hopefully get far on it. I don't plan on updating weekly or anything like that, just so I can stay ahead and not feel any pressure. I loved my Zero No Tsukaima fanfic, I really do, and my Code Lyoko… I'm kinda second guessing about my first DBZ fanfic, but I had to start somewhere, and now here I am, on my fifth fanfic, and it is Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere.
I am actually kinda glad as to how my story has been going so far, and I really do hope to receive reviews from people. I absolutely love them, even the common "Great story man" inspires me just to pull through and get another chapter in. Starting a new story is always fun, hoping the community will accept it with a warm heart and leave plenty of reviews, but it gets saddening when you pop open your inbox and find nothing. Then the fun kind of gets sucked out and you wonder if anyone is even reading your work, and then it comes to the point of just wasting your time. Well, since I am writing this in school, it's easy to get some new material out.
This story focuses mainly on the main cast of Horizon, though it shouldn't be as complicated as the show really is. I understand everything that goes on, but I can't exactly… keep up with it. So… yeah. This fanfic takes place around Episode Four of Season two, somewhere after Toori and the guys rescue Neito and the others from that fallen ship. Now do note, beginnings are hard to get around, I know, but it's the middle of the story that gets juicy and good!
Do note that I will be mixing in my own plot really early, whilst following the main plot of S2, but I won't exactly follow that, it can be kind of… demanding, and that puts on pressure.
Also, as a side note, I was hoping that this would be the first fanfic for Horizon, but it seems another fan beat me to it. I'm a little jealous, but it was really great to see someone actually putting forth the effort to write a fanfic for this show, knowing he may not get much reviews. I'm gonna try to help him out as much as I can by leaving pretty long and helpful reviews, and hopefully, he might return the favor. I really like what he is doing with his story so far, the OC's are interacting with the main cast quite interestingly, and he seems to take requests and builds his story off of the ideas of the reviewers. I like that, and I may even take OC requests, but I wouldn't count on it.
Well, enough of my rambling, this has been quite long, so… I'm going to get to writing the chapter now. I won't do the disclaimer bit I do with ZnT, that will stay there, and I may even continue on it, when I re-watch S4 of course. Anyway, time to get busy.
Oh, and one more thing. A note about the titles, I will be using Roman Numerals for the, well, what I could say, Arc Number, then I will put down the chapter of the Arc, then the actual chapter itself after the Semi Colon. Hope that seems simple enough.
Arc I - Chp. 1 ; 1 - Shadows of the Borderline
In Great Britian, a young blonde girl wearing glasses sat in a dimly lit room. She went over documents handed to her from the Pope's assistant. Though Great Britian was not in alliance with Tres Espana, K.P.A. Italia, nor other nations like P.A. Oda or IZUMO in Hexagon Francias, she did not want that idiot chancellor of Musashi's Ariadust Academy, Toori Aoi, getting ahold her Deadly Sin Armament, Avarice Reflection. Avarice Reflection held the power to enhance a weapon's ether output, but it was not limited to just weapons, people could be enhanced as well, but since only the Eight Dragon Kings could use the power of the Mortal Armors of Deadly Sins, other than the automaton, Horizon Ariadust, she was the only other person in the world who had the right to use Avarice Reflection.
But, her reasons… were much darker than what the Pope of K.P.A. Italia, Innocentius, even thought. She wanted to destroy Class 3 - Plum, Musashi's greatest war asset, it's student council. Most of all, she wanted to watch another certain author suffer, a person she knew once in Tres Espana, who went to a war orphanage with her so long ago. She frowned, showing her teeth in a vicious way as that person came to her mind. She wanted him to suffer, no, not just him, anyone he was in contact with, anyone he befriended or spent time with… yes, she would make him pay. The girl with glasses put down the pencil and looked upwards to the dark bedroom ceiling. The Queen of England, Elizabeth, the Fairy Queen wished to use Musashi to an extent for the upcoming battle against Tres Espana, but the girl only had dark revenge in mind. Her small mouth now shown no emotion as she stared upwards, thinking about her plan of action against that poor excuse of an author, and all of his friends along with him. Seeing them all writhing in mental and physical agony would be delicious to her, but it would only be the beginning. Then, when they were all helpless, defenseless as one would put it, she would reveal herself as the culprit, to put the icing on the cake one would say. "Toussaint Neshinbara… the curtain has risen and it is time for the play to begin… but your role will only be a small one." she said to herself as her cold eyes looked into the ceiling.
Thomas Shakespeare looked back at the letter which was addressed to Innocentius. He had already accepted her help, in secret of course. Musashi had embarrassed him, and he wished to strike back at them. Musashi showed their military might only a day ago, and now all of it's representatives were on it's country. She had to strike them down before the Fairy Queen would wish to have a meeting with them.
School has just ended on Musashi, and the students of Class 3 - Plum were headed off to their separate ways for the remainder of the day. Neito Mitotsuraida, the half-wolf with long, flowing silver hair, had the day off of her duties and she was in a rather unique situation. Due to the recent activities in the economy of Musashi, because of the war, and her recent tie against Welsingham of TRUMP, her payment has… changed. Even though Neito was a knight, money was getting very tight now. The war for the Seven Deadly Sins that idiot, Toori Aoi, student council president and chancellor of Musashi Ariadust Academy, has began, it has sucked away away most of the currency and payments were being deducted. If this continued, Nieto would go into poverty and soon, owe Musashi with debts. She sighed and sat down on a bench shaded by a tree and pulled up a sign frame with records displaying her current money situation. She looked down in depression.
"Oh, man…" She looked back at the floating interface above her hesitantly, hoping that maybe something would have changed. No luck. "If this keeps up, I won't have enough money to pay off the next mortgage for my mansion on the Musashino… I'm already starting to fall back, and this deduction has only made it worse. I'm going to need to either find another job or find a cheaper place to live…" Neito looked down with grief. Next to Horizon, she was next in line to inherit rule over the Far East, but Horizon was the current head, next to Yoshinao, the King of Musashi. With the country fighting for it's freedom and equality among other nations, she'd just have to deal with it until they could get their assets back in line.
Neito looked around to check if anyone was paying mind to her. No body around seemed to care. That's good, nobility like herself should not need any kind of pity from commoners, but that didn't mean she wouldn't welcome it. Neito did not see herself higher above anybody or anyone just because she was placed in a higher social class, many of her friends, best friends at that, people she grew up with since early childhood, like kindergarten, were commoners, and she loved every one of them.
Neito stood up, closing the interface, and proceeded to see if she could find a sign or an answer. She walked through various districts, looking around, watching citizens, residents of Musashi pass by, her hair swaying slightly side to side, her body moving in a casually seductive motion, her skin tight jersey showing off her magnificent curves. Neito walked through several districts, looking for an answer, until she bumped into a strong back. Neito whelped a little whilst sharply turning to see who she so carelessly walked into.
"I'm so sorry, sir! I apologize greatly!" she told the man.
Neito frantically waved her hands in front of her breasts, trying to sound as sincere as possible. The man with blonde hair turned around to greet her. Neito was surprised to see her friend, and classmate, Shirojiro Beritoni, now standing in front of her, no doubt with his partner, and lover, Heidi, standing next to him, with that smile of hers no doubt. Shirojiro smiled and lifted a hand.
"Ah, Neito." He looked to Heidi, who bowed casually to her, then straightened herself up. Shirojiro returned his attention to the knight in front of him. "What brings you this way?"
"Oh, well… um…" Neito didn't know what to say to him. This scene was very unprepared for.
Shirojiro noticed her foreign attitude. He raised a slight eyebrow to why she was looking around nervously, a blush present on her face. "Is there something wrong, Neito?"
Upon hearing this, Neito jumped. "Well, um…" She looked to her left while lifting her hands to her chest, nervously, then she decided it would probably best to tell Shirojiro, a person who knew a great deal, or possibly everything there was to say about money, about her endeavor. Neito put her hands down and contently sighed. She looked up to Shirojiro with her eyes. "Shirojiro…"
Shirojiro looked at her attentively.
Neito fumbled with her right arm a little. "Shirojiro, I…" she sighed again. "I'm headed into a bit of trouble… a debt, sort of…" Shirojiro stood unaffected by the news, but in his mind, he was puzzled as to how this could happen to a knight.
"Why are you headed in that direction? Aren't you nobility?"
Neito leaned in to him, almost panicking, and shaken. "You don't understand." She looked down in shame, hiding her eyes with the bangs of her hair. "Just because my fami-…" she stopped at the word, with her mother coming to her mind. "Just because I'm nobility doesn't mean I have it any easier… I'm being cut from funds to support the war. My personal pay has been decreasing dramatically…" Neito closed her eyes and clenched a shaking fist. "I'm loosing everything…"
Shirojiro tried to understand this problem. Her being nobility should affect whether or not her money is taken by the country, unless Musashi itself will go into debt. Shirojiro has separated all of his well earned money away from Musashi's shares, making it all his own, but Neito is supported directly from Musashi, due to her services as a knight. He placed a palm on his face, displaying disappointment. Heidi looked to him with wonder. "Toori, that idiot. He's sucking all the funds to support this war. He should be smarter about this whole thing…" He turned to Neito, who was still staring at the ground in shame. "Neito, where are you living right now?"
Neito turned towards Shirojiro slowly. "What do you mean?.."
"I mean is the place you are dwelling in "all-that" to you…"
Neito folded her arms and looked away to the side. "Well, no… not really."
"And how much are you paying for this place?" He had a serious look in his eyes.
"Um…" Neito looked down, narrowing her eyes slightly, thinking of the answer. She then looked to the man slightly. "Um… about 690 Sanctions every four weeks."
"That's too much money!"
Neito flinched at Shirojiro's unexpected outburst. Heidi smiled and rose her finger up suggestively.
"Shiro, we have a brand-new state-of-the-art apartment complex we recently moved to and built. Maybe we could sell her a room."
Shirojiro put a finger and thumb on his chin and nodded thoughtfully. "You read my mind, Heidi."
Neito blinked blankly. "Apartment?"
"Yes." Shirojiro answered. "About three months ago, Heidi suggested we build very modern and high-tech, cheap apartment complexes for people to live comfortably in. There are three levels of condition these apartments are separated into…" Shirojiro held up three fingers.
Heidi nodded and decided to add onto what Shirojiro was saying. "There's conventional…"
"The cheapest of all three." Shirojiro informed.
"Which is a 10x12 foot room, hosting a small kitchen…""State of the art."
"A comfortable big bed, fully supported with drawer dressers, a built in wall shelf for conventional items like a clock or radio, and a small closet." Heidi smiled lightly.
"The lavatory holds a shower and/or bathtub, a sink, and the obvious, towel racks, and three cabinets."
Heidi nodded to Neito. "Then there is the regular. It is a fully supported two bedroom apartment, with one bathroom, a center room, and a separate kitchen."
"It is within a reasonable budget, but I would not recommend that." Shirojiro added.
Heidi looked to Shirojiro with a smile, then back at Neito. "The premium is a fully supported four bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a kitchen and central area."
Shirojiro nodded accordingly. "The rent for conventional is 164 sanctions, plus a .88 sanct. Rent is paid every three weeks."
Neito blinked for a second. "That sounds… nice."
Heidi smiled. "Regular is 312 sanctions, rent paid every three weeks."
"And premium is 812 sanctions and .69 sanct., rent paid every five weeks. With conventional, you have one extra week to provide left over rent if you can afford to pay at least half by the time rent is due. What is your pay grade right now, Neito?"
Neito rubbed her upper arm. "Um… well, it used to be 195 sanctions every two weeks…" she looked down rather depressed. "Now it is 151 every three weeks…"
"Hmm…" Shirojiro put a finger to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "Neito…"
Neito looked up to him. "Y-yes?"
"How would you like to have a conventional apartment at the very building I stay at?"
"Wha- what?" Neito looked at him surprised, but then thought of her home, and then looked away. "Well… b-but what about the rent? I make less than what is needed to pay."
"Quite. Which is why I would like to offer you a job here. A small job, but it pays well."
"Can you afford to do that?" Neito asked sincerely.
Shirojiro gave her an honest smile. "Of course. This job only pays below minimum wage an hour, but it's good enough to get you over what I ask. What do you say?"
"But, I don't even know what it is…"
"True…" Shirojiro responded. "All it is, is that you deliver and handle envelopes of money for bills and such. Since it's you, Neito, I can trust you with my money. I can trust you, can I?" Shirojiro leaned towards her, facing her intensely. "I can trust you, right?"
Neito stood upright and proud. She planted a fist firmly on the middle of her bosom. "Of course you can. I would never do anything intentionally to harm a friend and a classmate."
Shirojiro smiled at her. "Great. But this job carries with it more responsibility, like the transportation of special documents, can you do that too?"
Neito, with a smile, nodded. "Mm hmm."
Shirojiro patted Neito strongly on the shoulder. "Very good, then!" Shirojiro stepped around her. "Would you like to get a room?"
Neito nodded, rather excited about this. Being so close to many of her friends who live on the Okutama would be a wonderful thing! She heard Adele lived in one of Shirojiro's new complexes. She said it was a great help to her budget, and his cheapest place offered all she really needed. Now Neito would get the same privilege. "Yes, but could I ask a favor?"
Heidi stepped to her other side. "Sure, what is it, Neito?"
"You don't think you can handle the business of me getting out of my other home, do you?" Neito looked away. It's not like my family will mind. I was exiled here to Musashi from a very young age. I've been going to school with Shiro and most of the others since second grade… She smiled at the thought of still being around them, keeping hold of those dear to her.
Shirojiro gave her a thumbs up with a smile. "You can count on us to get the money."
"Thanks." Neito said.
"But…" Heidi raised her hand up in question. "What about your belongings? Won't they get sold too?"
"Oh…" Neito waved off to her, smiling. "I'll take care of all that during my free time."
"Oh, okay." Heidi smiled and resumed walking. "Just wanted to make sure."
"Thanks for your concern." Neito told her happily.
Shirojiro and Heidi led Neito to her new home. What Neito saw was a six-story building, elegantly dropped from chrome silver to blue and black windows practically coating the gaps in the square spaces left by the hard metal exterior. She had to take a moment to realize she would be staying there. She continued up ahead with Heidi and Shirojiro and finally stepped inside. A cool, fresh air greeted her as she walked through the sliding-automatic doors. She relaxed and allowed her body to take in the atmosphere of the place. She looked around to find where was standing was a lobby, two of them joined by a front desk, much like a dental office, except without that other dreadful atmosphere. People could just chill together down here. The woman at the desk humbly greeted her employers with a bow.
"Mr. Beritoni, who is the woman you have brought with you?"
Shirojiro responded accordingly. He waved his hand toward the half-wolf. "This is Neito Mitotsuraida. She will be housing in this building from now on until she acts otherwise. I'll be handling her files myself, she's a friend, a close one."
"Yes sir. Send me her files when you are ready."
Shirojiro nodded and headed into an elevator. Neito and Heidi followed suit. The elevator stopped on the sixth floor. Heidi smiled while Shirojiro and her stepped out and into a wide white hall. Shirojiro stopped in the middle of the hall and in front of a two silver steel door with what looked like a black cameral orb over the door. Shirojiro took out a card and held it under a scanner. Once scanned, he placed his thumb on a finger scanner. When that was done, Shirojiro took out a key and inserted it into the key slot. He twisted it and the doors opened up. It was another elevator."
"Where does this one go?" Neito questioned, pointing to it with curiosity.
"Oh…" Heidi exclaimed. "This one goes up to our private floor."
"There's a seventh floor!?" Neito said with wonder and surprise. Shirojiro nodded and headed into the elevator, with Neito and Heidi following him. He pressed an up button and the doors closed, then they proceeded what Neito felt, was up.
"Technically, you could call it a seventh floor, but it is just our room." Shirojiro informed her.
Then, the doors opened up and Neito's eyes greeted red rugged stairs, walls on each side ending at the top (fifth) stair. Shirojiro and Heidi stepped out and Neito respectfully followed. She walked up the short flight to see a large room, square in central design, walls coated with large, solid, strong windows. The entire floor was elegantly draped in a red soft rug, the floor going up a step at key points on the floor as if to separate parts for the floors. Neito took a look at Shirojiro's and Heidi's bed. It was a big, thickly covered round bed. She started to think about trying it out before a call from Shirojiro interrupted her thoughts.
"Neito, let's get this done. Time is money."
Neito nodded and walked over to the table Shirojiro was headed to. Heidi pulled out a chair and let her sit while Shirojiro took his seat across from her, standing the papers up to align them. Then, he placed them down.
"Okay…" he began. "What kind of room do you want, Premium, Regular, or Conventional?" He spoke it almost as if he knew the answer. Heidi placed two hands on Neito's shoulders and leaned in from behind her.
"Considering your situation, I would recommend the conventional."
"You really think so?" Neito said in question, while turning her head Heidi's direction.
"Tes." Heidi answered. She stood up after patting Neito's right shoulder twice. Neito watched as Heidi walked around while Shirojiro paid close attention. "So… which is it, Neito?"
"Mm…" Neito looked up with her golden eyes, then looked back at Shirojiro. "Conventional." She answered confidently. She elegantly placed her fingers on her breasts while closing her eyes. "It will only be me, after all, so there won't be no need for more than the necessities."
"Alright." Shirojiro exclaimed. "Here's the rest of the papers. Be sure to fill these out and have them to me tomorrow. Heidi will show you to your room."
Heidi threw her arms around Neito's upper stomach, right below her breast line, which caught the half-wolf off guard. "Shall we go then, Neito?"
Neito slowly nodded, and thus, they were off. Neito watched doors go by until they reached her room down on the fifth floor. Heidi turned to face Neito and present her room. "Here we are, Room 416." Neito walked forward to open her door. Heidi handed her a gleaming black key, which Neito inserted into a panel Lock and her new room was opened up to her. What she found was a naturally well lit room. She looked to her left to find a good sized bed with what looked like pretty comfortable sheets and covers. They were a dark purple and thick, the solid black pillow looked really soft too.
Heidi then walked in ahead of Neito. "The light switch is to your right and your bed, as you know, is to your left.. The room should offer plenty of space for some aesthetics and the kitchen is in front of the windows. The windows are tint controlled, you can adjust the tint your likings from the knob at your bed or over your kitchen counters." Heidi stood in the middle of the room and turned to face Neito. Neito sat on the bed. Well, what do you think? Pretty good for 160 sanctions, huh?"
Neito nodded. "uh, yeah. That's really good. How much is Shirojiro making from this business?"
Heidi smiled widely. "Let's just say… a lot."
Neito nodded, a smile on her face. "That's good. Well…" she looked back to Heidi. "Thank you, Heidi." Neito proceeded to bow to her, then sit back down.
"I'm happy to help, Neit." Heidi told her before exiting the room. Neito looked around quite pleased and jumped back onto her bed. She smiled as the bed took in her form, the bed felt really nice, really soft and comfortable. Looking up, she realized now things would get a lot easier, but it would not be the same.
