BnHA Princess and the Pauper AU

CHAPTER 4: COMMON PROSTITUTE

Jirou Kyouka was in the middle of stitching the hems of the gown's sleeve she was working on when the back door slammed shut and a pleasant-faced Momo walked in.

Almost too pleasant.

Jirou sighed, "So, what did you bargain this time?"

Almost immediately the pleasant façade dropped replaced by a frown. "The pig wanted gold," she spat as she sat next to Jirou. "I wasn't so stupid as to give him any so I gave him gold-tinted steel. He couldn't even tell the difference."

Momo wasn't usually the type to vent her anger, but at this point, Jirou was not surprised anymore. Anyone's patience would wear thin in the hands of Madam Ninel.

"It's frustrating," Momo said darkly, in what Jiro could only think was a growl. "It's not enough that I'm working as a seamstress for her—every chance she gets she tries to sell me off to some random man for a one-night stand like I'm some prostitute from a tavern."

Jiro patted her back in sympathy. There was no denying that Momo was beautiful, and that most of the young men their age wanted to get some from her at least once. Thankfully, Momo was smart and thankfully, the men in the area were greedy and more concerned about riches than women. Momo just had to deal with "negotiations", and the men would lie to Madam Ninel's face that, yes, yes, the sex with Momo-chan was very good.

Unfortunately the men's "testimonies" seemed to increase Momo's popularity in the one-night stands department.

It was handy having a Quirk that allows you to create things out of your own skin. Besides, if push comes to shove and one day, a man wouldn't have any of Momo's exchange offers, she could always fight back. Momo wasn't necessarily weak in a physical sense.

"You know you don't really have to work for her, Yaomomo," Jirou said, using the childhood nickname. "This is my family's debt you're working for."

Momo's dark look evaporated as quickly as it came; replaced with what Jirou thought was embarrassment and horror. "No! Kyouka, you're family took me in when my parents died. You are my family—I won't let you go through this alone."

Someone slow-clapped behind them and both girls froze. "Aw, isn't that precious," Madam Ninel said, sickly sweet. "Well, since ya both are havin' such a hard time I suppose ya can have the day off—QUIT COMPLAININ' ALREADY YA PEASANTS!" Madam Ninel screamed. Kyouka and Momo flinched as she approached Momo and pinched her ears. "And little missy! I outta slap ya in the face for yellin' at me earlier. If ya didn't do a decent job in 'ere, I'd have kicked ya outta my emporium a long time ago!" After several more seconds of ranting, Madam Ninel let her go and stalked out of the room.

"You okay?" Kyouka asked Momo, who was rubbing her red ears.

"It's alright, Kyouka," Momo assured her friend.

"Well," Kyouka glanced behind them to see if their boss was still lurking around. "At least she didn't hear, you know, the bit where you didn't exactly pleasure the guy."

"There will be more," Momo said, sighing. "And with all the commotion earlier, I forgot to buy more fabric." She stood up, dusted her skirt. "I'll be heading out for a bit."