The Emerald Prince

Chapter 108: Temptress

Good [insert time here] everyone. Little early, but heh.

Also, my betas grew wings and flew away (still friends but they are too busy), so from about chapter 105 we have entered the realm of 'no beta we die like Sir Nighteye'. Just a heads up. I'm sometimes a bit weird in the non-socially acceptable (when did being nerdy become the cool thing?) way, and sometimes it shows. :)

Enjoy! Next update probably Wednesday!

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Izuku managed to arrive at the club his friend Ruri worked at on time.
Coming through the back entrance he saw a lot of familiar faces. Bizarre as it may seem, he kinda missed them.
It was a pretty shitty job, but it was one hell of a family, and everyone understood each other. And to be understood is a precious treasure, Izuku could enjoy nowhere else really.

He cared about his friends in 1A. He truly did. They were wonderful and he'd give his life to protect them.
But they hadn't been the ones to hug him, support him and lift him up from his lowest point.
No, that had been Ruri, Kohaku, and Shinju... all the people who lived in the grey area, in between the lines. And all of his friends who sold themselves to survive. Those with back stories to match his, and eyes that knew what he'd been though and treated him no differently for it.

When he saw Ruri, they raced to each other and embraced.
She was a tall woman, several years older than him and beautiful. Her hair was dark as sin, her lips red as desire and her eyes befitting of her nickname, meaning Lapis Lazuli. Like something out of a dream.

"Welcome back Hisui. I'm glad you can follow your dreams, but we missed you!" She murmured softly, tucking an escaped strand of hair back into his updo.
"Me too! ...We?" Added Izuku excitedly as he pulled away.
She smiled affectionately. "Kohaku moved to this place with me, though he works as a bartender now. Shinju and Rubī stayed back at the old place."
"Can I see him!"
She chuckled, "I'm sure he'd love to see you Hisui, but if you go now you'll miss your mark!"

He grimaced, and scanned the crowded place. "Where is he?"
"The spikey blond at 3:00." Replied Ruri calmly, indicating with a subtle tilt of her head. "Called Tengai Hekiji. He's one of the eight bullets under the new leader. And you, my angel, are just his type."
Izuku grinned. "You're a life saver, Ruri!"
She stroked his hair affectionately. "You're our hero Hisui, we'll always help you. Come visit properly soon right?"
He nodded, and gave her another small hug before gliding across the crowded room.

The club was smaller than the one he worked in, but better quality. No smoking indoors for one thing, and the bar top was almost as clean as Kurogiri's. The place was crowded with well dressed people, who looked like they all owned pressure showers they could use to wash away the drinks they were buying in spades. The dancers looked like they'd at least taken a course in one discipline or another, and the music was live.
It would have been nice to work in a place like this. Unfortunately they only took workers over 18, and did the necessary checks to ensure that fake IDs wouldn't pass. Tragic.

At a table in the corner, his large and rather intimidating mark slouched over several empty shot glasses. As Ruri had said, he had ash blond hair like Bakugou's but close cropped, and tired grey eyes. His face wasn't particularly notable for any traits, other than matching his heavy build, with a sharp square jaw, and straight Roman nose.

"Tough day at work?" He asked gently, settling down gracefully opposite the man.
Those tired yet strangely solemn eyes rose to meet his and widened slightly. "A little."

Not much of a talker then.
Talkers were usually easier to deal with, since they gave you material to work with, like a Takami... or Monoma, but he could handle the quiet types too.
"Me too." He said, taking a seat opposite the man. "My boss thinks you're bored here. If I don't leave this place on your arm, I'll be out of a job by tomorrow."