[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

Bailed. Again. What’s new?

Kioko looked away from one of two messages she had received that evening. Both had been sent with the result of disappointing her even if that had not been the intent. If she could not count on the pair that sent them, then there was well and truly no one left to turn to when Kioko was alone or worse—lonely.

She stowed the phone away on her person. Where exactly was anyone’s guess with her form fitting attire and aptitude for stealthy actions. Her reward for once again suppressing the rising despair from the wellspring of her soul’s remains was a long draw from the wine glass before her. Shu had introduced her to this particular blend at their last private meeting. It had replaced vodka as her drink of choice whenever she elected to disgrace Noyote with her presence. Unless Sebastian was being more irritating than usual on any given night where they attended the establishment together. Hard liquor was required for those gatherings. Kioko rarely ventured to the bar without him or Renjirou though. Until lately thanks to messages like those they had sent moments before.

The pity party held in the back booth reserved for the trio near the wall filled with photographs and memories beneath Noyote's iconic iron-wrought sign bearing its name was apt to continue for the rest of the evening unabated. Sebastian, at the very least, would likely find a rather scathing text from the early hours of the morning if she continued. That was his problem now, not hers. Kioko finished off the rest of the dry red that was as deep and dark as the crimson lipstick she had chosen to wear then flagged down one of the servers across the dimly lit space for another round. Having grown up in Noyote during the daylight hours before she was old enough to drink once it made the day-to-night shift from cafe to bar, the staff all knew her well.

“Hey, Kushiki-san. Ready for another drink? If you wait for a couple of minutes, happy hour will start.”

“Happy hour? Since when does Noyote do happy hour?”

“Barkeep thought it’d go well with testing out karaoke.”

“What?”

Kioko was suddenly grateful Sebastian wasn’t there.

Notes & Tags: Ryota Hada | Outfit

[Ryota Hada]

Ryota didn't frequent this part of the city for three reasons. 1. It was outside of his patrol route, and since he liked to unwind even if nothing happened in said patrol route (no one should underestimate the exhaustion one gets from staying alert for several hours!), he usually went straight home after instead of venture out in the nightlife.

2. His friends would bring him to a different part of the city instead. Usually for drinks, sometimes for pool, other times to see horror movies that he loved to watch but was terrified of anyway (god that doll's so creepy please hold me - you're literally a hero? - what does that have to do with anything??). No one's actually attacking in the movie theatre so he couldn't be a hero, unless it's to sign the autographs of those who happened to recognize him. Totally different.

And 3., perhaps the most tragic of all, was this side of town didn't have karaoke? At least that's what Ryota was told when he asked why they never ventured here. But he also heard through the grapevine that that was no longer the case for at least one bar in the area. So naturally, he had to find out for himself.

And drag all his friends to it for all the times they did the reverse to him.

Noyote would find itself visited by no less than four new patrons, though it sounded more like ten with how rowdy they were. And they look like they've been bar hopping by the way they held on to each other as they made their way through the door. As designated leader of the pack - and because he's the only one who could still walk in a straight line - Ryota planted them in the nearest booth before heading to the bar.

He called for the barkeeper's attention. "Good evening! I hope you can forgive us for our loud entrance." He gestured towards his friends as if it wasn't obvious he was associated with them. "Could I get two whiskeys, one on the rocks, a mojito and a mule for that table? Oh, and four tequila shots!" Four fingers were raised in the air before they curled up, gears turning in his head.

"Good, you just got here in time for happy hour. Are you here for the karaoke by any chance?"

Ryota suddenly slammed his hand on the bar. "Good man! Sorry- but yes! That's exactly why we're here! Is it free by any chance?"

"Sure is. Go on, have fun."

He smiled wide. Oh, they were gonna have so much fun.

Kushiki Kioko | Outfit but include his silly red bandanna

[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

“Rhetorical. Don’t answer that,” Kioko interjected before the server could elaborate on why they had chosen to do karaoke or attempted to explain what it was. She needed nor wanted either response. “Just fill it up,” she said as she pushed the wine glass toward the other woman.

In the short amount of time it took for the server to pour the wine and return table-side, the first batch of outsiders trickled into the bar Kioko considered own. Of course she did so very quietly in the back of her mind in case Shu could somehow also read thoughts in addition to everything else he was capable of doing. She watched them in the middle of an almost ritualistic frat boy takeover of the space they entered with boisterous energy and the customary ringleader posted up at the bar.

It seemed Kioko was going to need vodka after all. She knocked back the entire glass of wine in one hearty draught. The lack of a normal gag reflex and throat control from how her Quirk manifested outside her body also made Kioko a chugging champion. The feat was unladylike enough that she rarely did so in public, but the back booth was private enough for her to break protocol in an effort to ready herself for a stronger drink.

A fluid motion deposited her outside of the booth before the effects of alcohol could kick in and make her anything less than the epitome of grace. With wine glass in hand, she sauntered over to the bar as the last of the goof troop’s orders were placed so that she could make her own given that table service was likely to be a fleeting luxury with how rowdy the establishment was promising to be for the evening. The fact that she could move at all much less elegantly in such attire made pondering whether or not her Quirk was fitting into and functioning ridiculously tight clothes not entirely remiss. Especially when she was in possession of curves so very clearly hazardous to unwitting fools that she would require warning signs had they been in the form of roads and rather than gracing her amazonian body.

Alas, Kioko came with no signage to warn of the danger concealed beneath form fitting garments. Neither were any red flags so blatantly obvious other than her relatively well-known identity to keep the unwitting at bay. Unless one counted serpentine eyes filled with a haughty superiority befitting her lineage as her gaze slithered over the quartet in the act of an obvious once over. At least until one of the servers freed them from the impending Medusa snare.

“Grey Goose,” she said as she slid the wine glass across the bar top. Another look to the men and she amended, “Make it a double.” The server bustled off to fulfill her request, leaving Kioko to take a new perch atop a nearby stool while she waited for either her drink or passive, if hardly passable, entertainment from observing the jester and his fellow harlequins.

Notes & Tags: Ryota Hada

[Ryota Hada]

Now as much as Ryota wanted to immediately take the mic for himself, he knew better than to further expose the poor server to his table by letting them bring the drinks there. So instead he patted both hands against the counter in an alternating pattern as he waited. He could carry all the drinks there himself just fine once they were ready.

In this waiting period however, a new arrival joined him in the bar and somehow his friends went quiet. Ryota turned to the tall woman as she rather pointedly ordered some vodka from the bartender. She was probably not happy about the sudden noise that entered the otherwise quiet establishment. She also seemed rather familiar.

He raised a hand in greeting despite the judging look. "Hi! I hope you're enjoying yourself here." Just as he did so however, several voices reached his ears, most notably his friends as they were released from the snake's stare.

"Drinks're ready."

"Yo Ryo! Who's that?"

"Isn't that Kushiki-"

Oh. That's why she seemed familiar.

Ryota never sped away with drinks in hand so fast in his life. He placed the tray forcefully on the table, passed everyone their drinks - whiskey, whiskey on rocks for him, mojito, mule, tequila shots in front of each - before shaking two of his friends by the hair to quiet the rushed muttering that flared up. He wished he had another arm to grab the third as well but this would have to do. "Shhshhshshsh! Keep it down will you! I can hear you all the way from the bar!"

"But she-"

"Is released! She's released! And I will not have you all criticize her presence when she is very much allowed to be here!" All this was spoken with harsh whispers as Ryota did his best not to raise alarms to their conversation.

He was failing. Miserably.

Kushiki Kioko

[Kushiki Kioko]

I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

Karma wormed its way through her ears, carried across the bar on the winds of others’ words. Judge not, lest ye be judged. A crime of which Kioko was exceedingly guilty—not to mention the actual crime that ignited conversation quite literally held behind her back in the first place. This was exactly why she didn’t like interlopers in her refuge. The regulars least had enough manners to save their comments for when they didn’t occupy the same space as Kioko.

A brow arched. Sharpened nails dug into the wooden bar top. Blood quickened—and in doing so, resonated with its kin in the environment for a heartbeat causing lights and electronics to flicker for the briefest of moments. The server returned with her drink, setting it down in front of her pointedly with a warning thud of glass against counter. “Here’s your drink, Kushiki-san.” Their look was plaintive and pleading. Silent begging for Kioko not to cause trouble. At least not on their shift.

Kioko smiled in a manner that bared her fangs. It wasn’t a kind expression. Today wasn’t the server’s lucky day. “Thank you.” Even if she had no intent of apologizing for what came next, she was at least grateful for the drink. One which she knocked back quickly before pivoting on her bar stool to face the table previously behind her, the wicked smile still in place.

“Oh do go on. You were just getting to the good part. So don't listen to your friend. Just say what you were going to say to my face instead,” she said with a trace of what almost sounded like amusement. Her voice was soft when she spoke. Quiet. Her words were controlled. Calm. And Kioko? Kioko was furious. A tempest incarnate beneath the mask.

Notes & Tags: Ryota Hada