The Emerald Prince

Chapter 2: Under the neon lights

When Midoriya Izuku made a plan, he usually stuck to it.
Which was why he could be found late into the evening at a strip club.

He was surprisingly popular, especially with the wealthier clients, and it turned out he could sing and dance pretty well.

This brought a lot of progress in the plan. The electricity, heating bills and rent were paid, a fridge bought and stocked with food, and he could begin self defence classes. He even had reserve savings which was satisfying, and enough spare to get a nice futon - though sleeping on something so soft took getting used to, as did regular meals.

He quickly fell into routine.

It took a week of full training before he could begin to perform. By then, it was the first week of the last year of Junior High. He was surprised how quickly he adapted to the strange environment, the lights, the drunken men and women...and their hands. He felt filthy, but he was earning well, and would soon earn more, so he just washed thoroughly when he returned in the early hours and told himself he'd get used to it.

A pleasant surprise were his fellow workers, who often had stories to tell far worse than his, their shared suffering making him feel strangely at home, he'd never felt welcome in a place before, and it may be grimy, and stuffy, but when he arrived people would smile at him, which as a nice change.

His only solace in his school life had been the school library. It had been run by a quirkless old lady, who allowed him to hide in the back room during break and lunch times, and read.
Though he more often than not, dived into fiction books, into happy worlds, to live the lives of main characters who were special, who were destined and driven... he did do a fair bit of school work.
He'd done enough to be able to take his Junior High exams a year early anyway.
Which the teachers willingly let him do, to get rid of the quirkless embarassment.

School out for the year meant Izuku could begin truly working toward his new future. He began doing full work outs every morning, running up and down Dagobah beach, surprised how much enjoyment he could feel from the exercise despite his frankly shitty life and prospects.
He found the same in his self defence classes every afternoon, where he quickly found out he could actually hold his own against people with quirks. The first time he beat someone with an actual combat orientated quirk gave him such a rush, he smiled a true Midoriya Izuku smile for the first time in a decade.

All the time he wasn't doing these, working or sleeping was spent on chores and study. If he could learn the work for next year, he would surely be able to pass entrance tests easily enough. And he'd have to ace them, if any fault could be found, they'd find a way to reject the quirkless student. That was life.

———

It was a Saturday a month into his new life when Izuku first took the next step at his work. It was his virginity on the line, and never in his entire life had it seemed worth a hundredth of the sum the man was paying. He was worthless after all, to everyone but himself. But clearly his body was of some value.

In spite of the fact Izuku was reconciled to his new reality, he was still nervous as he prepared, shakily applying make up, and adjusting his outfit. His friends - for they understood him, like he doubted anyone else ever could - were waiting at his dressing room door. When he emerged they hugged and patted him, telling him encouraging things and teasing jokes, but he barely noticed. There were things words couldn't help with.

He knew that tonight after all, that last remaining slither of the old Midoriya Izuku was probably going to die. Overdue or otherwise, it was still a scary thought. He'd held on so long... but that wide eyed cinnamon roll may have been decent person but being him only brought pain and disappointment... it was scary to think about what would be left... but maybe the stripper Izuku would be a person strong enough to face the battles to come, and survive.