Requiem of the Broken

Chapter 29: Connections

Izuku stood behind the bar, nervously fidgeting as Mr. Sasakura and himself waited for Ochako and her friends to arrive. Nezu had contacted Mr. Sasakura earlier and told him what to expect, so Izuku had been spending the last afternoon with a steadily building sense of dread. He hadn't had to interact with groups of people since his days in the Police and QSU. It was made worse by the fact that not only would Ochako be present, but her close friends would be as well. Izuku knew perfectly well who those friends were, almost all of the students in Ochako's generation had made names for themselves during the war and it was hard to find anyone who didn't know the names of people like Creati, Pinky, or Froppy. Earphone Jack and Uravity on the other hand were much less well known, neither of them was reported in any news articles relating to the war, but while Uravity was well known among the more rescue-oriented heroes, Earphone Jack was practically invisible by comparison. Some forums even suggested that she had quit hero work altogether and was instead preparing for a breakout into the music scene. She had released a few songs under the radar, and they were quite good. The prospect of not only dealing with a group of people, but a group of some of the best heroes in the country in addition to Ochako was making him quite possibly the most nervous he had ever been before.

"Relax Izuku, all you need to know is just do your job and let yourself adjust to the situation when it arrives. I'll try to answer questions they might have, so you focus on serving them drinks and relaxing." Said Mr. Sasakura smiling over to Izuku who was practically shaking with nerves.

Izuku closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths. After he had managed to get his shaking under control he opened his eyes and smiled back at Mr. Sasakura.

"Yes sir!" he said confidently.

Another few minutes passed, where Izuku occupied himself by checking the bottles for any that needed dedusting, helping to calm his nerves when he heard the door open. He looked over to see Mina Kirishima, walk through the door with a broad smile on her face, shortly followed by Momo Yaoyorozu, Tsuyu Asui, Kyoka Jiro, and finally Ochako. Izuku could see Mrs. Kirishima open her mouth to say something, only to have her eyes go wide when she saw the interior of the bar of itself. The party's eyes roved over the walls, obviously shocked at the sight. This sort of reaction was normal for people's first time entering the bar, after all, not many people expected to walk into a miniature museum when they entered a bar. He caught Ochako's eye as she walked in last and she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Wow... this is incredible... where did all this stuff come from..." breathed out Mrs. Kirishima as she just walked around and examined the items displayed.

"I come from a line of archeologists and historians, this is the result of several generations worth of labor in those fields. Some they found out on business expeditions, some were bought, others were given to us for safekeeping. When my parents died, everything was left to me. So I donated most of what was in storage and used many of the smaller pieces to furnish and decorate my bar. A blend of my parent's passion for history, and my own passion for bartending." said Mr. Sasakura from behind the bar.

The party turned to look at him, bearing slightly embarrassed looks on their faces.

"Mr. Sasakura, these are my friends, Mina Kirishima, Tsuyu Asui, Momo Yoyorozu, and Kyoka Jiro. I hope it's alright that I brought them here, Mr. Nezu said it would be alright." said Ochako, introducing her friends and giving Mr. Sasakura an apologetic look.

"Think nothing of it Ms. Uraraka, Nezu informed me that you would be bringing friends. If I had any problems with it then your friends wouldn't have been able to enter this establishment. Ah, but where are my manners, welcome to the Invisible Glass! My name is Ryū Sasakura and this is my employee Izuku Midoriya," said Mr. Sasakura gesturing to Izuku. "And feel free to look around at your leisure, I like seeing people enjoying the labors of my ancestors, it really is very fascinating."